Moving from one part of Scotland to another
Moving home can be a life changing event, especially if you need support to live your everyday life.
If you are moving to another part of Scotland you will probably not be able to take your current support with you. But, your new council should find out what you need support with and work with you to put support in place to meet your needs.
Social care support works slightly differently in every council area, so you may also find the rules and procedures are different when you move.
Planning to move to a different council area
When you know you are going to move, it is important to plan for the change to your support as soon as possible.
Contact your social worker to tell them you plan to move and ask for them to help arrange the support you will need.
If you do not have an allocated social worker, you will need to contact your council’s Social Work Department to request support with the move.
What your current council needs to do
Your current or ‘home’ council is responsible for paying for the care and support you need, until you are settled in your new area. Their responsibility lasts for the first three months after you move to your new area.
If you become settled in your new area before the end of the three months, your new council may take over responsibility for assessing your needs and arranging your support with you.
Your current council should contact your new council and request a transfer of your case.
A meeting should be arranged for:
- your current council
- your new council
- you (if you want to be involved)
- any carers or family members who support you
- your support providers, if you have them – both those who currently support you and those who might support you when you move.
This meeting will discuss your support and anything that needs to be considered by the new council. It is really important to do this if you have complex care needs.
Will I be able to access the same level and type of support in my new area?
When the council in your new area becomes responsible for your support, they will do a new assessment with you to find out what is important to you and what you need support with.
Different council areas have different rules about who can get formal (paid) support.
You might find that you are not able to get the same support you have now, in your new area. You might be able to get less support or more support, depending on where you move to.
Different council areas also have different rules about how much they ask people to pay towards their support.
You might have to contribute more, or less, of your own money to pay for your support, depending on where you move to.
Find out more about paying for support in the article: Paying towards your social care support (care charging)
Support for unpaid carers
You might have an unpaid carer (a family member, friend or someone else who supports you).
If they are moving with you, they can request help from the new council area too. If they already have support in place, they can ask for this to be transferred as well.
Find out more in the article: Adult Carer Support Plan/ Young Carer Statement
I am moving from another part of the UK to live in Scotland
The Governments of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland have written guidance for councils and Health and Social Care Trusts about people moving from one part of the UK to another.
This guidance says what they should do to make the process of arranging support in the new country as smooth as possible.
Find out more in the Resources section below.
Next steps
You may be able to get help from a local Independent Support Organisation if you are planning to move.
You can find details of Independent Support Organisations in your current area, and in your new area, using the Find Help search tool.
Many people are able to sort out new support when they move to another part of Scotland.
But, we know that some common issues come up for people.
Here is what do to if any of these things happen to you.
My current council and my new council cannot agree on the transfer of my support
There are processes that managers in the new council area should follow if they do not agree with the transfer of your support.
You can find more information on the processes in the Resources below.
Both council areas should aim to resolve any disagreements about your support as quickly as possible.
I cannot get the same level of support in my new area
If your new council has done an assessment with you, you can check the assessment to make sure all your support needs have been recorded.
If you want to challenge the decision about your support, find out more in the article: How to challenge decisions
You can also contact a local Independent Support Organisation in your new area for help. You can find their details using the Find Help search tool.
The SDS Standards give guidance to local councils to tell them what they should do when it comes to arranging social care support (Self-directed Support).
These SDS Standards are not laws, but all councils have signed up to them. Councils should work to these standards.
When it comes to moving from one part of Scotland to another, here is what the Standards say:
- Councils should work together to make sure that you can move from one council area to another while retaining a level of support that is enough to meet you agreed outcomes (11.7)
- Councils should work together to make sure there is minimum paperwork involved when people move from one council area to another. (11.8)
You can see the full Standards here.
There is another piece of Guidance that your council should follow when you are moving from one area to another.
The guidance has been written by Social Work Scotland and is called: ‘Ordinary Residence Best Practice Procedure – Transfer of adult care cases between Health and Social Care Partnerships/Authorities’.
This guidance is for adults only.
You can read the guidance here.
Your council should also follow the Guidance issued by the Scottish Government.
This guidance is called ‘Circular No: CCD 3/2015. Guidance on the recovery of expenditure on accommodation and services under section 86 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968’.
You can see this guidance here.
The law about social care support is called the Social Care (Self Directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013.
It says:
- You must have as much involvement as you want when it comes to assessing your support needs and planning your support.
This is the same whatever part of Scotland you live in.
You can find the full text of the law here.