Self-directed support (direct payments)

This content applies to Scotland only.

Housing laws vary between Scotland and England. This page applies to Scotland only. Get advice relating to England

If you require community care services or children's services in your home, you may be able to get money from the council so that you can arrange and pay for your care services yourself. These payments used to be known as direct payments, but are now called self-directed support.

What is self-directed support?

If the council has carried out an assessment of your needs and it has been agreed that you require community care services or children's services, you can ask the council to give the money that they would have spent on your care, directly to you. You can then use this money to arrange and pay for the care services you need yourself.

Who can get self-directed support?

If your council decides that you need personal or community care, it must offer you self-directed support as an alternative to arranging the services for you. If you get self-directed support you must use it to arrange services that meet your assessed needs.

You may be able to get self-directed support if:

• you are over 16, disabled, and assessed as needing community care services, including housing support services
• you are 16-17, disabled and need housing support services
• you are a disabled parent and your child or children have been assessed as needing children's services
• you have a disabled child who has been assessed as needing children's services or whose health or development is impaired
• you are 65 or over and need care and attention because of age or infirmity
• you are 65 or over and receiving free personal and nursing care - in this case you can arrange to get the personal care element as self-directed support
• you are the attorney or guardian of someone who has been assessed as needing services and you have financial powers to act on their behalf.

What can self-directed support be used for?

Self-directed support can be used to pay for community care services, housing support services, or child services that you have been told you require following your assessment. Services could include:

• someone coming in to help you wash
• someone coming in to do your housework
• someone to prepare and help you eat meals
• someone to help you or remind you to take your medication
• attending a day centre
• attending college
• getting out and about.

You have to discuss and agree with the council what your self-directed support can be used for. It must be used to buy care services - you cannot use the money for anything else.

What are the advantages of self-directed support?

If you decide that you want self-directed support, you can chose how and when you want your care services to be provided. For example, if you need someone to help you prepare and eat your meals, you can chose if you want to employ someone yourself, or you could pay an agency to provide someone. You should be able to choose which days the person comes and at what time.

Do I have to have self-directed support?

No. If you do not want to choose and arrange your own care, your council can do this for you. Or you can choose to get self-directed support to arrange some of your own services, and receive other services directly from the council.

Will self-directed support affect my benefits?

No, the money you receive through self-directed support won't affect your entitlement to benefits.

Useful links

• For further information about self-directed support please go to the Scottish Government website.
• The National Council for Independent Living website has lots of useful information for people who wish to employ a personal assistant to help with care needs, and includes advice on how to recruit someone and how to be a good employer.