Understanding a support budget
Once you have had an assessment, you should find out what is called your indicative budget. This is the rough amount of money you will have to pay for your support.
You can find out more about this part of the process here: Your support budget
This page explains more about your support budget and how it works.
How is the amount of my support budget decided?
The person who does your assessment should find out what is important to you and what you need support with to live a full life. They will use this information to work out how much this support will cost.
They then give this information to a council committee.
The council committee has to look at the needs of everyone who needs social care support in their area and decide how to spread the money around fairly.
The council committee usually makes the final decision about how much your support budget should be.
The rules around social care support say your support budget should be fair, and enough to cover the level of support that you need.
Do I have to pay towards my budget?
You may have to pay some of your own money towards your support budget. This depends on where you live, and how much money you have.
Find out more about this here: Paying towards your social care support (Care charging)
How do I find out what my budget is?
Your social worker should tell you what your budget is. If you have not been told, ask them to give you the paperwork that explains your budget.
You have a legal right to this information.
What can I spend my budget on?
Each council area has different rules for what you can and cannot spend your budget on.
Most councils have rules that say you can’t spend your budget on things like:
- Anything illegal
- Paying off debts
- Food and drink
- Rent or mortgage.
Ask your council for information about any rules they have for what you cannot spend your budget on.
Councils should be flexible about what you spend your budget on, as long as it will help you achieve your outcomes. These are the things you have agreed with your social worker that are important to you.
In reality, some councils and some social workers are more flexible than others when it comes to what you can spend your budget on.
In some situations, you may have to make a case to spend your budget on something you think will meet your outcomes. An Independent Support Organisation, Carers’ Centre or Advocacy Service can help you with this.
You can find your local Independent Support Organisation using the Find Help search tool.
You can find your local Carers’ Centre here.
You can find your local Advocacy service here.
How do I decide what to spend my budget on?
Every person is different, so no two people’s budgets will be the same. What you spend your budget on will depend on what is important to you that you need support to achieve.
The assessment process may help you decide what you need support with.
If you choose to manage your budget yourself, you decide how to spend it to meet your outcomes.
There are organisations who can help you decide and plan how to spend your budget. Find their details using the Find Help search tool.
If you choose to get help to manage your budget, you can work with the organisation that is managing it for you to decide how to spend it.
You can be flexible about how you spend your budget.
You do not have to spend the same amount every week or month.
Your social worker might want to agree a limit for a maximum amount you can spend at any one time.
What happens if I spend all my budget?
You cannot ask your council for more money if you spend all your budget.
If you are managing your budget yourself, you need to plan to make sure you do not spend your budget too quickly.
You also need to make sure you keep enough spare in your budget to cover things like replacement support if your usual support is not available.
If someone else is helping you manage your budget, they should make sure you do not spend it too quickly.
What happens if I do not spend all my budget?
There may be many reasons why you are not able to spend all of your budget. For example, if it is difficult to find services to support you.
Find out what happens in this article: What happens if you do not spend all your support budget?
Next steps
Contact your local Independent Support Organisation for help to understand your budget.
You can find your local Independent Support Organisation using the Find Help search tool.
Some people will have no problems finding out their budget and getting support to understand it.
But we know that some people face problems with this part of the process.
Here are some issues we know sometimes come up:
I do not know what my budget is
You have a right to know what level of budget is available to you.
It is a good idea to contact an Independent Support Organisation who can help you work with your social worker and make sure you get the information you need.
Find your local Independent Support Organisation using the Find Help search.
I do not think my budget is high enough
If you do not agree with the budget you have been given, speak to your social worker.
Again, it is a good idea to contact an Independent Support Organisation who can help you work with your social worker to understand your budget and make a case for a larger budget.
Find your local Independent Support Organisation using the Find Help search.
My council says I cannot spend my budget in the way I want to
It is important that what you want to spend your budget on relates to meeting your outcomes. It helps if you can explain what difference that purchase will make to your life.
You can use the information in this Handbook to help explain that you should be able to use your budget flexibly.
You can find more information about the rules councils should follow around budgets in the What should happen section below.
You could also contact an Independent Support Organisation or Advocacy Service who can help you speak with your social worker about using your budget in a more flexible way.
Find your local Independent Support Organisation using the Find Help search.
Find your local Advocacy Service here.
The SDS Standards give guidance to local councils to help them deliver social care support well.
These SDS Standards are not laws, but they describe what good Self-directed Support looks like. Councils should work towards these Standards.
When it comes to information about your support budget, here is what the Standards say:
- Assessment and planning processes, and decisions about your budget should be clearly explained to you. (4.1)
- You should be told the likely level of the budget available to you regardless of how much control and responsibility you choose to have for managing your support. (9.3)
- Different people with similar circumstances may require different budgets depending on their own strengths, and the support they have in their life already from their family and community. (9.4)
- You should be informed and involved in decisions about how your budget is agreed, allocated, reviewed and spent (12.1).
- You should be told the relevant amount available to achieve your personal outcomes for each Self-directed Support option (12.2).
- Your budget should be enough to meet agreed outcomes identified in your assessment. (12.3)
- Your budget can be spent in any way that is legal and that is related to meeting your agreed personal outcomes (the things that are important to you) (12.3)
- You can be flexible about how you spend your budget to meet your agreed personal outcomes (the things that are important to you) (12.4)
- Social workers should encourage and support you to think creatively and flexibly in how your budget can be spent (12.4)
- You should be able to be flexible about spending different amounts of money each week and at different times of the year, within agreed limits. (12.4)
You can find the full SDS Standards here.
The law about social care support is called the Social Care (Self Directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013.
It says:
- your council has a legal duty to tell you how much your support budget would be for each of the Options that are available to you. You can read more about these options here: Your options for controlling your support
You can find a link to this part of the law here.
The SDS Statutory Guidance is legal guidance written for local councils to tell them how social care support (Self-directed Support) should work.
When it comes to support budgets, this is the guidance councils must follow:
- You and your social worker should work together to make a plan for your care and support. Together, you will agree on your outcomes – in other words what you want to see happen in your life. The plan will help you work towards this, and should be reviewed regularly.
- The council should make sure that you have enough budget to achieve what has been agreed in the plan. You should be involved in decisions about your budget and have maximum flexibility to use this in the way that achieves what is most important to you.
- When you get a payment or budget for support, you should work with your council to agree how the money will be used. Both you and your council should use the money in the best way possible.
You can find the part of the Guidance that says this here.