Interim National Care Service Advisory Board: Advice to Scottish Ministers and Council Leaders - Self-Directed Support

Advice to local authorities and health and social care partnerships

The interim Board recommends the adoption of the following actions by local areas, to allow for greater flexibility of spend within self-directed support option one, which in turn will allow for allocated budgets to be spent more effectively:

• Ensure social care assessments are outcomes-focused, allowing individuals the greatest flexibility in using their allocated budget to achieve those outcomes in ways which best reflect their choices and meet their needs
• Ensure a person-led, solutions focussed assessment of alternative ways of meeting an individual’s needs through the budget allocated to them has been undertaken before clawing back any unspent funds
• Work with Scottish Government to ensure individuals being (re)assessed for social care support have access to timely independent support including support to understand rights and services available, support to navigate services, peer support, collective support, brokerage, advocacy and independent advocacy. These types of support enable people to articulate their needs and priorities and to make sure these are heard
• Ensure that where a combination of professional social work assessments and judgements including equality and human rights impact assessments have confirmed the appropriateness of any reductions in support, such reductions are phased, and adequate funding is available to enable the person in receipt of support to meet their own statutory responsibilities as an employer and to make safe, sustainable and lawful changes to support arrangements.
• Ensure that Social Work (re-)assessments for individuals in receipt of ILF do not inadvertently reduce SDS budgets below the minimum threshold required to maintain ILF eligibility, unless this has been clearly considered, discussed with the individual, and all reasonable alternatives explored.