The Support Option Team visit people once they have received a referral to set up a Direct Payment. The team goes through the full range of responsibilities in managing a Direct Payment. People may choose to manage the Direct Payment fully themselves. If they wish, people can also receive the following support through the Support Options Team in managing their budget: Referral to specialist payroll and accounting services, which offer a range of support including processing wages and calculating and deducting tax and national insurance contributions for any support staff employed through the Direct Payment; these service are also able to hold the funding for the Direct Payment recipient. The Support Options Team can also guide parents and young people through the Connect to Support Bradford website which contains a whole range of payroll and accounting services that people may wish to use. Support is also available from their allocated Worker and Connect to Support Bradford.
The Support Options Team work with parents and young people, once they have been allocated a budget, to calculate which portion of the budget is to be allocated to buying in services, paying for insurance, contingencies etc. Each Direct Payment undergoes a financial review at least annually, this is undertaken by Bradford Council’s Community Care Admin Team. The review is carried out to ensure that the Direct Payment funding has been used to meet eligible assessed care needs and that spend of the budget is accounted for. Information about the financial reviews are contained in the individual Direct Payment contract that each family/young person receives and is explained by the Support Options Team on initial and follow up visits. Where funding from Direct Payments is being used to employ support staff directly, it is compulsory of families/young people to purchase Employer’s Liability Insurance.
Personal Budgets are optional for the child’s parent or the young person but local authorities are under a duty to prepare a budget when requested. The child’s parent or the young person has a right to request a Personal Budget, when the local authority has completed an EHC needs assessment and confirmed that it will prepare an EHC plan. They may also request a Personal Budget during a statutory review of an existing EHC plan. Where a direct payment is proposed for special educational provision, local authorities must secure the agreement of the early years setting, school or college, if any of the provision is to be delivered on their premises.
Support is provided through the allocated Worker, the Council's Support Options Team click here and Connect to Support click here
The Bradford SEND Local Offer is a free and impartial service provided by Bradford Council. The information contained within the website is available for the purposes of identifying services and provision that are available to children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This information does not represent a recommendation or an endorsement of a Service or Provider and neither does the Bradford Council or its partners make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy of the information.
Anyone seeking to use or access a service or provision is responsible for undertaking their own checks to determine the suitability and fitness for purpose of that service and provision. Some providers will be registered and inspected by external agencies, such as Ofsted or the Care Quality Commission. Anyone working with children and young people will be required to have appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service Check (the replacement for the Criminal Record Check), safeguarding policies and insurance in place, which they should make available to you on request.
