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After spending most of his adult life in residential care, Paul now has a personal budget which has helped him understand how much money he has to support his needs and now has much more choice and control over his own life. He knows exactly how much he has to spend and has been able to choose the support that is tailor-made for his requirements.
Paul is living on his own in a flat in Exeter. This was his choice,he didn’t want to share; and when he was given a personal budget he chose to pay rent to live independently with support in his own two-bedroomed flat. It is comfortable and filled with the furniture he bought himself, choosing it with his parents. He does his own cleaning and laundry – he could buy in help for this but chooses not to.  He is eating in a more healthy way and has lost some excess weight.

Paul has autism and epilepsy and is supported by carers who call round at appointed times. They help him with his budgeting and prepare him for what he has to do that day or the next day. He has a job for two days a week, goes to a centre for another two and has a day to do his shopping.
His main hobbies are wordsearch puzzles and buses, and his armchair is by the window so that he can see the buses go past.
Paul says that his quality of life has improved enormously since he started living on his own, and now he has a good social life at the centre, at the club he goes to one evening a week and over a pint at the local pub.

At present there are 12 adults with learning disabilities in Exeter who are living independently. They have each chosen whether they would prefer to live alone or with someone else.

By October 2010 all new service users and those subject to review will be offered a personal budget and given support to help them plan how to use it. By April 2011 it’s hoped that at least 30% of eligible adults will have a personal budget so their choices can be improved – just like Paul’s have been.

First published in Devon Talk Spring 2010.