Council and democracy

What Adult Care Services does

Our efforts are focussed on helping to keep people as independent as possible.
We will arrange and fund support for adults when their independence is considered to be at ‘critical’ or ‘substantial’ risk.
This is done after assessing a person and their carer’s needs.
Most people need more than one kind of help and a ‘package’ of care and support is usual. The cost will depend on a person’s income and benefits.
Where appropriate, money (direct payments) can be given to people who have been assessed so that they can arrange their own care services, giving them more control over the support that they receive.

We have to work within a set budget and cannot provide all the support we are asked for, so we give priority to people with the greatest need. To make sure we do this in a fair way, we use the national guidance called ‘Fair access to care services’ from the Department of Health.
If, after an initial assessment, it seems that there are only moderate or low risks to a person’s independence, we will still provide information and advice on other possible sources of help.
We also fund many local voluntary organisations to provide services that can make a real difference to someone’s daily life.