Service Description: A Personal Budget is the amount of money that is used to meet your care and support needs. You will only be able to have a Personal Budget if you are assessed as having social care needs that meet the Fair Access to Care criteria used by the Isle of Wight Council.
Also known as:- Direct payment, Direct Payment Personal Budget, Direct Payment Personal Budgets, Personal Budgets
Answer: After it has been established that you meet the eligibility criteria, the next step is to complete a Shared Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ). The shared assessment is a questionnaire that identifies your support needs. There are a series of questions you will need to answer that look at all aspects of your life. For each question, there is a list of possible answers. You will need to choose the answer that best describes your needs. The assessment will help the Council to make a fair and open decision about who gets what money to meet their support needs. Each of the answers has a value, the more needs you have the higher the points scored. Your points are added up to get a final score which is used to work out how much money can be allocated to you. This amount of money is called your ‘Indicative Allocation’ which is a guide amount to allow you to prepare your support plan. This amount may change depending on your costed support plan.