Cambridgeshire County Council’s Adult Support Services is transforming the way that adult social care is delivered in Cambridgeshire. As part of this work, the Council will be implementing a new programme called Self-Directed Support.

Self-Directed Support is a different way of providing social care to people who the Council assess as needing a service. Instead of a package of care being organised by the Council, service users will have responsibility for identifying their own care needs. Assistance will be available to service users to arrange their Self-Directed Support and to help them manage their Personal Budget.

The process to set up Self-Directed Support has six steps:

1. Service users will be assessed to check their eligibility for support services.

2. They will then be asked to fill out a Support Questionnaire – which asks about the skills the individual would like to develop or what they would like to achieve.

3. The County Council reviews the Support Questionnaire and decides the budget amount to be allocated to the service user.

4. Service user (and carer – if required) set out individual service requirements in a Support Plan. The Support Plan will chart service user’s support needs and goals and will be important in demonstrating how the Personal Budget will be spent.

5. Council agrees Support Plan and budget.

6. Budget allocated to service user.

The new system builds upon the Council’s successful work to implement the ‘in Control’ pilot (a Self-Directed Support scheme) in Learning Disabilities, and Direct Payments – an allocation of money that is given to service users to spend on their care services.

Your views

The County Council is currently undertaking a two-month consultation on Self-Directed Support and we would like to hear the views of service users, their families and carers. We are also welcoming views from members of the public, voluntary organisations, County Council staff and other key partners.

The consultation paper provides information about Self-Directed Support and what it means for service users and their families. It also asks for feedback on how the new programme can best be designed.

A copy of the consultation document is available by clicking onto the file under the ‘publications’ section, located on the right of this page. To obtain an easy read version or a printed copy, please contact Amanda Davies, Communications Officer, by telephoning: 01223 699650 or e-mailing: in.controltotal@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

An online consultation form is available by clicking onto the form under 'Links' on the right hand side of this page. The deadline for all responses is 5pm, 21 November 2008.

Further information

Further information about the Government’s Self-Directed Support policy is available by clicking onto the links under the External Links section, located on the right of this page.