Financial guidelines
The council, for legal reasons, is obliged to monitor how people are spending their Direct Payments. You are therefore expected to keep records of all your expenditure relating to your Direct Payments within your Folder.
If you have any difficulty in keeping records up to date or understanding what is required, then please contact the Direct Payments Advisory Service who will be able to advise, train and help you or whoever is managing your direct payments on your behalf.
The council, however, reserves the right to cease Direct Payments if financial guidelines are not adhered to.
As a council we aim to minimise the administrative work expected of you, however, Direct Payments is public money and record keeping and monitoring of how money is spent has to satisfy audit requirements.
You should only use your Direct Payments to purchase services to meet your needs as identified within your Community Care Plan. If you are unclear about this then please contact the Direct Payments Advisory Service.
Designated bank account
You will be expected to have a separate bank or building society account for the sole purpose of administering your direct payments.
- This account should only be used for your direct payments
- You should pay your contribution as determined by a financial assessment (if applicable) into this bank account
- The account should not contain any of your own private money (other than your expected contribution).
The council accepts that it may be more practical for some people to combine the money they receive from the Independent Living Fund into the same bank account as their Direct Payment since it:
- May prove impossible or unduly difficult for some people to obtain three separate bank accounts (personal, direct payments and Independent Living Fund)
- Is more practical to manage a combined package of care (Direct Payments and Independent Living Fund) from the same bank account.
Copies of all bank statements must be kept in the appropriate section of the folder supplied by the Direct Payments Advisory Service. The Direct Payments Monitoring Officer will inspect bank statements as part of the monitoring process.
The Direct Payments Advisory Service will provide you with a folder to help you keep your records in order.
For more information about Direct payments for carers, please contact the Direct Payments Advisory Service.
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