SDS Legislation and Statutory Guidance

The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 became law in 2014. This is the legislation that set up self directed support. To understand what this law means in practice, the Scottish Government published guidance that came along with the legislation. This is Statutory Guidance, which means this needs to be taken into account by Local Authorities (Councils) when they are implementing Self-directed Support (SDS) in their area. The latest version of the Guidance was published in November 2022 and can be accessed at the Resource link at the bottom of this page.

The Scottish Government also passed another law called the Self-directed Support (Direct Payments) (Scotland) Regulations 2014. This set out the rules around:

• The calculation and payment of Direct Payments under Option 1
• When it’s possible for a Local Authority to stop a Direct Payment
• The employment of family members
• When someone is not eligible for Direct Payment
• When the Local Authority don’t have to offer the choice of a Direct Payment to someone

Next steps

Take a look at the resources available to guide you in more detail.