About personal budgets
A personal budget is the amount of money agreed to meet your assessed care and support needs.
It is decided following a care and support needs assessment, which you can get through a request for social care support.
It may include contributions from:
- The Council
- The NHS (contribution may not be required)
- You, based on your financial assessment
In some cases, a family member or third party can also make a top-up contribution to add to your personal budget.
If you are 18 or over, your personal contribution depends on your income and savings. We calculate this during a financial assessment, and the amount you are asked to pay is called your assessed contribution.
Who can get a personal budget
You may qualify for a personal budget if all of the following points apply:
- You are eligible for support under the Care Act
- You have ongoing care needs that require council-funded support
- A financial assessment shows you qualify for full or partial funding
- A care and support plan has been agreed to meet your eligible needs
How personal budgets are calculated
Your personal budget is calculated using the following steps:
- The Adult Social Care team complete an assessment to look at your care and support needs.
- A financial assessment is completed to check if you need to contribute to the cost of your care.
- Using these two assessments, we agree on how a personal budget can meet your needs.
- We regularly review your support plan and budget to make sure they still meet your needs.