Can a social worker/panel defend paying a Direct Payment holder’s PA less than the council’s commissioned rates to companies for the same sort of service? For example, could they say we’re only going to pay a flat rate for night care, rather than the hourly rate the council policy allows for both waking and night sits?

Leave a Comment / Care Planning, Budgets and Choice Rights, Charging and financial assessment, Direct Payments and Personal Health Budgets, Direct Payments Q&As, Discretionary charging for meeting a person's needs under the Care Act, Duties and Discretions, Financial Control of non-commissioned budgets, Options for management of a Direct Payment or PHB and options for getting help to manage it, Public law principles relevant to non-commissioned services, Q&As on Direct Payments, The conditions applicable to a Direct Payment under the Care Act compared to those applicable to PHBs, The right to charge for social care /

Yes, because a direct payment holder is not running a business, and is not taking on a statutory duty of the council towards others. That is not to say however, that a market rate for a particular sort of skill would never be higher in the direct payment PA market than the rate paid to agencies, […]

Can a social worker/panel defend paying a Direct Payment holder’s PA less than the council’s commissioned rates to companies for the same sort of service? For example, could they say we’re only going to pay a flat rate for night care, rather than the hourly rate the council policy allows for both waking and night sits? Read More »