Last updated:
8th August 2023
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Direct Payments for Children Services
See notes
In this request, when I say ‘a direct payment to meet the needs of a disabled child’ I mean any services provided under Part 3 of the Children Act 1989 or CSDPA 1970 which may include personal care, short breaks, and other services.
1. Does your council have a policy setting out the circumstance where a Direct Payment paid by the council to a family to meet the needs of a disabled child may be requested to be repaid to the council?
The Council has a Direct Payment Guide, which is available on the Council website. This contains details of when a Direct Payment may be reclaimed or need to be repaid.
2. If the answer to question 1 is yes, please provide a copy of that policy or explain why providing a copy of the policy is nor possible.
Direct Payment Guide available on the website - Factsheet 8
Short Breaks direct payment guide - See attached file.
3. If the answer to question 1 is no, or if you are unable to provide a copy of the policy as per question 2, please could you say in which circumstances your council would feel it appropriate to request repayment of direct payments made to meet the needs of a disabled child.
Not applicable.
4. How many times in each of the last 5 years has your council requested direct payments to meet the need of a disabled child to be repaid to the council? e., this occurred ‘x’ times in 2019, ‘y’ times in 2020, ‘z’ times in 2021, etc.
The total number of reclaims for unspent funds across the last five years are noted as follows:
2019: 43
2020: 28
2021: 67
2022: 49
2023: 54
5. For your reply to question 3, please can you specify if your figures relate to a calendar, financial, school, or other type of year.
The figures relate to the financial year, however, reclaims are processed on the anniversary of the start date of the package.
6. If question 4 is not able to be answered due to the resources needed to obtain the information, please could you confirm whether ANY direct payments to meet the needs of a disabled child were requested to be repaid to the council in each of the last 5 years.
Not applicable.
7. If questions 4 and 6 are not able to be answered due to the resources needed to obtain the information, please could the council explain the reasons why that information is not easily accessible and monitored by the management of the team responsible for disabled children’s services or the management of the team responsible for direct payments.
Not applicable.
