Your support plan

A support plan shows how you want to get the support you need to have the life you want. It’ll say how you would like to use your estimated budget to meet your eligible needs and achieve your outcomes.

You can choose to do your support plan yourself or get help from us, your family, friends, a broker or from somebody who has your best interests at heart (an advocate). We can provide you with more information about your different options.

If you're using your own money, we won’t need to agree your support plan. If you are entitled to funding we’re obliged to check and agree the amount of support you've identified you need and the cost. To be agreed your support plan should:

1. Be legal
2. Be sustainable (so that it continues to provide ongoing support)
3. Not put you (or anyone else) at risk
4. Not be used to fund services which can be provided by another source (such as the NHS)
5. Meet your needs in the most cost effective way (so it gives value for money

Your support plan should talk about you and how the support will meet your needs and outcomes. It should also show how you’d like to arrange your support so you stay safe and well.

Your support plan needs to be agreed by the council. If you're not happy with our decision you can discuss this with your care manager and ask for your support plan to be reviewed. If you're still unhappy you can make a complaint about the decision to:

Customer Care Manager
FREEPOST RRBS-EBKU-LJXR
Adult Social Care
Buckinghamshire County Council
County Hall
Aylesbury HP20 1YU
01296 383350
socialcarecomplaints@buckscc.gov.uk

There are many ways you can arrange your support. You can choose to recruit your own personal assistant. Alternatively, you may want to buy support from a company or have some support from your family and friends.

Advice and information about recruiting staff, as well as advice on training and employment is provided in Buckinghamshire by:

PO Box 14043, Birmingham, B6 9BL
Telephone – 0300 0200 092 (charged at local rate)
Minicom – 0300 456 2346
Text – send your name and number to 81025 and they will call you back
E-mail – pohwer@pohwer.net
Skype – pohwer.advocacy
Fax – 0300 456 2365

Whatever type of support you decide to have, you can have help to set it up. There are organisations that can help you, or you can ask an independent broker to assist you. Our care management staff will also be able to give you information about where to get help.

Brokerage

Brokerage supports people who take their personal budget as a Direct Payment to organise and find services and activities to meet their needs.

Brokers are fully trained and accredited. They may be individuals or from voluntary and charitable organisations. They work with individuals and groups of people with common interests or friendships who may want to do something together.

Brokers do not decide how much funding you are entitled to or provide actual services, they help you get the best out of your personal budget.

This service is free to those with an eligible need for social care. People who fund their own care may be charged. We pay for the brokers and monitor their work.