What can I spend SDS payment on?

Your Self Directed Support (SDS) payment will be based on the amount of support that you have been assessed as needing as shown in your Care and Support Plan.

Information will be provided to help you to decide how best to meet your needs and outcomes. For example, you might want to pay a care agency or to employ personal assistants yourself – or a mixture of both. You will be given enough money to pay for the support that you have been assessed as needing and are eligible for and you can only use your SDS payment money to buy care and support to meet your assessed needs and outcomes as set out in your Care and Support Plan.

You are not allowed to use your SDS payment for anything else, but there are different things that you could spend SDS payments on, such as:

• Someone to care for you at home,
• Transport, such as taxis,
• Help with shopping or budgeting,
• Educational classes (for example, art or writing classes),
• Pooling SDS payments with other people to employ a tutor to give classes,
• Respite, which could include a hotel stay or day trips with a friend,
• Help with childcare,
• Employing a personal assistant, or
• Going to the gym.

Is there anything I cannot use my SDS payments for?

You can only use your SDS payment to buy support agreed in your support plan and there are certain situations where it is not possible to use an SDS payment; talk to your care manager if you would like more information but here are a few examples:

• An individual cannot use a SDS payment to fund a long-term stay in a care home.
• SDS payments must not be used to purchase support that could be funded in another way, for example using your Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment or an Access to Work grant.

Can I use my SDS payment to pay a relative to care for me?

You may be able to employ a close family member as your PA if:

• You are unable to find a care agency or employ a PA who can deliver the services you need,
• You have special communication needs,
• Your cultural or religious needs can only be met by a family member, or
• You and your social worker/care worker agree this is appropriate.

If you want to employ a family member, your council must agree to this arrangement. You should think very carefully about employing a family member who lives in the same house as you, as you may find it difficult to separate the times when they are your employee and when they are delivering unpaid care. For further advice and assistance, you should contact your local social work department.