Finance questions on Self Directed Support
A planning amount, also known as an individual budget, is a sum of money that has been identified at the support planning stage to meet your agreed outcomes. You can use this money to buy goods, activities, or services as long as these things will help - either wholly or in part - meet your agreed outcomes . If you do not need services for a short period, perhaps because of hospitalisation or you need less support because of a change in your needs or you have difficulty in recruiting staff you should contact your practitioner to discuss whether any changes to your support plan and to your individual budget need to be made. Your budget should always have sufficient contingency monies in it just in case you need to spend more money to meet your care needs. When an adult individual receives a service arranged by West Lothian Council, a financial assessment is completed to determine how much, if anything, they should contribute towards their care provision. You can spend your budget on those goods, activities and services which will meet your assessed needs and fulfil your agreed outcomes. If you are in receipt of a Direct Payment, there are some things however that you cannot spend your allocated monies on. Self Directed Support: Personal Budget . Direct payments may be discontinued because: