Council chiefs have given the green light to plans to roll out a brand new way for people to receive social care in Leeds from August.

The new system, called ‘self-directed support' (SDS), is designed to be fairer, more flexible and more transparent than ever before, and is the result of decades of campaigning by people requiring assistance to live independently and social care reformers. It will give people more say over their care - from assessment right through to choosing what kinds of services they use, and who provides them.

Instead of being slotted into the ‘one-size-fits-all' social services model of the past, if you're eligible for community-based support you'll now have the chance to be a bit more creative. You can now use your own personal social care budget to pick and mix from a range of services from the council and independent care providers to best suit your needs.

Crucially, from now on you'll know exactly how much money is available to spend on your personal support. A personal budget can be used to pay for any services or items which genuinely help to improve your quality of life and address specific needs.

Councillor Lucinda Yeadon, executive board member with responsibility for adult social care said:

"Personal budgets are a new way of delivering social care support, and will give people more choice and control over how they live their lives.

"They are much more flexible than traditional direct payments, allowing people to mix and match the support they get using council services and independent providers.

"We are positive that this new system will give our customers more freedom and flexibility and provide them with a service that fits their lives rather than them having to fit their lives around the service."

SDS has been trialled in Leeds for the past year, so some people have already started to experience the benefits for themselves - like Paul, who lives in Wetherby and helps care for his mother, Olive (89). Olive was diagnosed with Alzheimer's five years ago. For the last nine months, Olive has been using a personal budget to employ a team of personal care assistants.

Paul found that this made a big difference in both their lives:

"The main difference is that we were able to dramatically improve Mum's quality of life during the day - and there's a lot more flexibility.

"Now Mum gets up to all sorts of activities with her daytime personal assistants (PAs) - reading and looking through books, singing along to the old timers, doing jigsaws - even feeding the ducks on the Wharfe or visiting the garden centre. Compare that to just sitting staring at the TV!

"The PAs are hand-picked and really care - and Mum gets to see the same friendly faces, rather than there just being a procession of strangers who watch the clock and rush in and out. This is the best thing I have ever done for my mum!"

And it's not only social care customers who will benefit. As they start working with the new model, many social workers are finding that it gives them more freedom to use their skills to offer better support to people.

Trevor Stephenson, a social worker who was involved from an early stage in the SDS pilot in Leeds, and has become an enthusiastic champion of the new system said:

"This represents a whole culture change. Our role has traditionally been to come up with solutions to problems, selecting the best fit from a limited range of options. The whole process was very much led by us.

"In the self-directed support model, once we've looked at what someone's eligible needs are, we can help them to look beyond ‘the problems' and discuss how they want their life to change.

"Instead of directing the process, our role is now more about suggesting things to consider and explore, opening up possibilities - as well as pointing out possible pitfalls and risks. This is the bit that feels like real social work again.

"I think that we should all welcome SDS, not just because of the opportunities it offers people to have a life and run it themselves, but also because it gives us, as social workers, the chance to be what we're supposed to be."

There are three different ways that people can choose to receive their personal budgets. The options are as follows:

1. Have the cash paid directly into a bank account and manage it themselves (known as ‘direct payments').
2. Have the budget paid to, and managed by:
   • a family member or group (known as a ‘trust')
   • a local care provider (known as an ‘individual service fund')
   • a support broker.
3. Continue to let the council manage the budget.

People will be asked to show how they plan to spend their budget in a support plan which must be agreed by the local authority. Strict controls are in place to make sure that taxpayers' money is being spent responsibly.

How to find out more

If you're already a Leeds adult social care customer, speak to your current care manager.

If you're not already using social care in Leeds, or would like information on behalf of a relative, call our customer services team on 0113 222 4401, textphone 0113 222 4410. Further information, including fact sheets, frequently asked questions, leaflets and film clips, is available at www.leeds.gov.uk/personalbudgets. Or you can email us here at Free to Live or post your question on our discussion board.

Additional info

What’s changed – in a nutshell