Adult Social Care Glossary, v 0.6

26 Personal budget
(1) A personal budget for an adult is a statement which specifies—
(a) the cost to the local authority of meeting those of the adult's needs which it is required or decides to meet as mentioned in section 24(1),
(b) the amount which, on the basis of the financial assessment, the adult must pay towards that cost, and
(c) if on that basis the local authority must itself pay towards that cost, the amount which it must pay.

(2) In the case of an adult with needs for care and support which the local authority is required to meet under section 18, the personal budget must also specify—
(a) the cost to the local authority of meeting the adult's needs under that section, and
(b) where that cost includes daily living costs—
(i) the amount attributable to those daily living costs, and
(ii) the balance of the cost referred to in paragraph (a).

(3) A personal budget for an adult may also specify other amounts of public money that are available in the adult's case including, for example, amounts available for spending on matters relating to housing, health care or welfare.

(4) Regulations may make provision for excluding costs to a local authority from a personal budget if the costs are incurred in meeting needs for which the authority—
(a) does not make a charge, or
(b) is not permitted to make a charge.

11.10 The personal budget must always be an amount sufficient to meet the person's care and support needs, and must include the cost to the local authority of meeting the person's needs which the local authority is under a duty to meet, or has exercised its power to do so. This overall cost must then be broken down into the amount the person must pay, following the financial assessment, and the remainder of the budget that the authority will pay.

11.11 The personal budget may also set out other amounts of public money that the person is receiving, such as money provided through a personal health budget. Local authorities should consider requests from individuals to present their personal budget in this way. Integrated health and care, and integration of other aspects of public support are the long-term vision of the government. This will provide the individual with a seamless experience, and can help to remove unnecessary bureaucracy and duplication that may exist where a person's needs are met through money from multiple funding streams.

11.16 The Care and Support (Personal Budget Exclusion of Costs) Regulations 2014 set out that the provision of intermediate care and reablement services, for which the local authority cannot or chooses not to make a charge must be excluded from the personal budget. This will mean that where either intermediate care or reablement is being provided to meet needs (for example, under section 18, 19 or 20 of the Act) the cost of this must not be included in the personal budget.

This is a statement that sets out the cost to the local authority of meeting an adult's care needs. It includes the amount that the adult must pay towards that cost themselves (on the basis of their financial assessment), as well as any amount that the local authority must pay.

Everyone whose needs are met by the local authority must receive a personal budget as part of the care and support plan, or support plan. The personal budget is an important tool that gives the person clear information regarding the money that has been allocated to meet the needs identified in the assessment and recorded in the plan. It will also record how much of that cost the adult will be charged by the local authority, and the amount that the local authority pays (that is, the balance). It is only the amount that the person is charged by the local authority, minus DLCs where applicable, that will count towards the cap. Any financial contribution a local authority makes towards meeting a person's care and support needs does not accrue towards the cap.

A money allocation available to someone who needs support; the money comes from the Council's social care funding.

Money that is allocated to you by your local council to pay for care or support to meet your assessed needs. The money comes solely from adult social care. You can take your personal budget as a direct payment, or choose to leave the council to arrange services (sometimes known as a managed budget) - or a combination of the two. An alternative is an individual service fund, which is a personal budget that a care provider manages on your behalf. A personal health budget may also be available: it is a plan for your health care that you develop and control, knowing how much NHS money is available.

Describes a mechanism of delivery of personalised care, with the following characteristics: the client (or their representative) has been informed about a clear, upfront allocation of funding, enabling them to plan their support arrangements. There is an agreed support plan making clear what outcomes are to be achieved with the money. The client (or their representative) can use the money in ways and at times of their choosing.

Single term, multiple meanings - can relate to a RAS assessment, identifying how much can be spent on a client, or it can simply mean a direct payment (sometimes referred to as Personal Budget Cash Payment or Personal Budget).

Statutory definitions in the Care Act and CASSG, and DHSC definition in the Charging Reform MVP document, all state that the personal budget INCLUDES the amount which the individual contributes, i.e. the full cost of care and support at LA rates. The NE Lincs and TLAP definitions state that the PB is fully funded by the LA, implying that it EXCLUDES the individual's contributions.