About Personal Budgets and Direct Payments

Personal Budgets and Direct Payments explained

What is a Personal Budget?

A Personal Budget is an amount of money that Wakefield Council sets aside for an individual to pay for a service they need.

It is a way to give families choice and control over how to meet ‘unmet’ support needs.

An example of an unmet need:  A person needs help to eat or drink but they do not have any support e.g. a family member to help them

Personal Budget can be a good option if more ‘traditional’ support is not working for you and you need a more personalised package of support.

Who can have a Personal Budget?

Personal Budget are available to children, young people and adults over the age of 18 who are assessed as having unmet needs in one or all of the following areas: education, health (including wheelchairs) and social care.

For some people, their Personal Budget may be used to meet a combination of these areas.

How do you get a Personal Budget?

To have a Personal Budget, you would require an assessment of need by an appropriate practitioner.  

An appropriate practitioner could be an educational psychologist, health professional or social worker.

If this assessment identifies some unmet needs which are eligible for support you can make choose whether to receive your support via a Personal Budget.