Personal budgets and direct payments
Please note: Adult Social Care is a service that some people will need to pay for. How much you need to pay will depend on how much Staffordshire Council works out what you can afford. We will look at this as part of a financial assessment.
This page has information on the following:
What is a personal budget?
Your personal budget is the actual amount of money that has been allocated by us to pay for services to meet your social care needs that were identified in your care and support assessment.
Initially this will be an estimated sum of money and the final amount will be decided when your care and support plan is complete.
As well as having a personal budget, you may also need to make a contribution towards the cost of your care. You should seek some independent financial advice to help you work out how you can do this.
How do I use a personal budget?
You can use a personal budget in one of these ways:
We can arrange and pay for the care and support you need
This is called a managed personal budget.
We give you the money to arrange and pay for the care and support yourself
This is called a direct payment. It gives you more choice and control over your care.
We arrange some services for you with a managed personal budget and you arrange others yourself using direct payments
Your social care contact will be able to help you with this.
What is a direct payment?
For information about direct payments, please see our direct payments pages.
What if my circumstances change?
If your needs or finances change, you must tell your social care contact immediately. We can then carry out a reassessment of your finances.
This will make sure you are paying the right amount for your care and support. You should not allow yourself to get into debt. If you are in doubt about whom contact, please get in touch with us.
Further information
Please see the commonly asked questions page.
For further information on managing debt and budgeting, see the money matters page.