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Examples of how the offer of a personal budget will work for users.  In both these cases a personal budget was agreed and offered but only one chose to take up the offer and use a direct payment

Scenario A
Mr B, from London telephoned CD with concerns about his mother aged 83 who lives alone and is becoming increasingly frail.  A telephone assessment from her CDP confirmed that mother had some memory problems but with help to get up and dressed every morning and evening, meals delivered and some minor aids she would be safe to continue living at home as she wished.
An assessment was completed (FACE ) which told us how much money would be needed to meet these needs.  This weekly sum of £xxx offered was called an indicative budget.  Mrs B, her son and her care worker agreed that this was fair and the offer then became Mrs B’s personal budget.  
The care worker explained that Mrs B could have this sum of money as a direct payment with which she could arrange her own care as she wished.  Choice and Control - but she preferred to allow the social care brokerage team to organise things for her.
A visit from the financial assessment and benefits (FAB) team confirmed that Mrs B had a small amount of income above the permitted amount and would have to make a contribution towards the cost of her care. At the same time they discovered that Mrs B was not getting all the benefits she was entitled to and should claim for Attendance Allowance as well as pension credit and housing allowance.

Scenario B
Anne R, a bank clerk aged 39 had a serious road accident which confined her to a wheelchair.  After a long hospital stay she was desperate to return home and regain her independence.  The hospital social work team offered re-ablement which helped to assess what support she would need.
Ann had been divorced a few years previously and lived with her two small children in a flat which fortunately was wheelchair accessible but needed some major adaptations inside.  An OT visited and suggested Ann applied for a Disabled Facilities Grant from her local district council housing department to help pay for this necessary building work.
She would also need help to get up and dressed, help with meals, help with looking after the children but she was quite determined to live as normal a life as her injuries permitted - her desired outcome even though she was unable to return full time to her career.
Her Care Manager, Joan assessed her needs and they jointly agreed a care plan.  This led to the offer of £xxxx, a sum of money called an indicative budget which it was suggested would meet all Ann’s needs and would lead to the desired outcome being met. After some negotiation this was agreed and it became Ann’s personal budget.  A direct payment was suggested as a means to delivering this budget.
Ann wished to employ a full-time, live-in carer to enable her to maintain her usual family routine and responsibilities and be ‘a proper mum again’ as she put it. With advice from one of our Independent Living Advisers a separate bank account was set up and the direct payment was arranged.  
A financial assessment showed that Ann’s income was below statutory limits and she would not be expected to contribute at this stage.  She was awarded the higher rate of Disability Living Allowance but chose instead a specially adapted motability vehicle so she would be able to take her children to school etc.