Monitoring and reviews of direct payments

If you have direct payments, how often will the local authority review the payments? Will they be monitored? Find out on this page.

Reviews

The local authority (LA) should review your care regularly if you have direct payments. The review is to make sure that the care you are receiving is meeting your needs, and that the direct payments allow you to buy the care you need.

When direct payments are made to someone who is acting on behalf of the person with care needs, the local authority should carry out a review:

• within the first year of making direct payments, and

• after this, at regular intervals of at least once a year.

If your local authority social services department says that you aren't entitled to community care services, you should get advice, for example, from a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those who can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

• More about who is a 'suitable person'?

Monitoring

Top tips

The Welsh Government guidance about Direct payments tells local authorities how they should monitor the payments. The guidance is on the Welsh Government website at

www.wales.gov.uk

The Welsh Government guidance about Direct payments tells  LAs how they should monitor payments. It advises LAs how to react if they have any concerns about direct payments, for example about:

• the mental capacity of the person with the care needs

• how payments have been used

• how the payments are managed

• Direct Payments - Welsh Government

Other useful information

• Welsh Government guidance: Creating a Unified and Fair System for Assessing and Managing Care - Guidance