Here you will find some of the most frequently asked questions relating to both us as an organisation and the services we provide.
Disability Focus is a not-for-profit organisation based in Totnes incorporated in 2007 which assists disabled individuals benefiting from statutory funding by supporting them with the management of their finances.
Fees for our services are normally met by local authorities or can alternatively be funded by the client who pay for support themselves.
No, Disability Focus also act as a Deputy pursuant to an order issued by the Court of Protection for individuals who lack mental capacity to manage their own property and financial affairs.
The aim of a direct payment is to give more flexibility to how services are provided to people who are assessed as eligible for social services support. Providing money in lieu of social care services gives people greater choice and control over their lives and enables them to make their own decisions about how their care is delivered.
Direct payments are payments made to individuals by Social Services departments to enable them to buy services they have been assessed as needing. They can be given to disabled people aged 16 or over, to people with parental responsibility for disabled children, and to carers aged 16 or over in respect of carer services.
Some people find that services provided by the council aren’t flexible enough to meet their needs, or that they lack continuity. You may find, for example, that they can’t always be provided at times that suit you. With Direct Payments, you decide how and when your support is delivered and by whom. Direct Payments offer flexibility and choice to individuals by allowing them to make their own decisions about their lives. People of all ages can buy care for themselves that better suits their individual needs.
You can use Direct Payments to employ people who report straight to you. Or you can use
the money to contract an agency where the agency will be accountable to you and not the local council. You can also use a mixture of these two care providers.
Most people who have been assessed as needing a social care service can get direct payments. This includes people with:
You can also receive Direct Payments if you are a:
You can ask for Direct Payments if you wish to be in control of the services you need, and you are able to arrange and manage those services, either by yourself or with help. You do not have to be able to do everything yourself. As long as you stay in charge of what happens you can have as much help as you need to manage direct payments.
You can use direct payments to arrange support tailored to meet your individual needs. You can decide what sort of help you need, how you want the help to be provided and the times when you want to have help.
Direct payments are not extra money to spend as you wish. The money must be used to meet the needs for which Social Services have agreed you should have help. You can do this by:
Direct payments can also be used for one-off or intermittent services, such as buying short periods of respite care.
You do not have to take full control straight away. You can continue to have some services arranged by Social Services whilst you arrange only part of your support package. In this way, you only have to do what you feel confident about, giving you time to develop the skills needed to completely manage your services.
No, not necessarily. There are many avenues of support for people who have direct payments. You can use family and friends to help you manage your money and even act as your representative if you need support being an employer. Disability Focus offers a number of services that can assist you with all aspects of Direct Payments. It is important to remember that if you accept Direct Payments, you can change your mind at any time.
It is essential to set up a PAYE Scheme with HMRC ensuring that the correct deductions for Tax and National Insurance are made from your employees’ Gross Pay and that these deductions along with any employers National Insurance contributions are paid on time and in full to HMRC. In addition, you must notify HMRC if your employees didn’t work during any tax periods to avoid fines or penalties for Real Time Reporting.
All employers by law must have employer’s liability insurance cover of at least £5 million.
A number of responsibilities are deemed as essential when employing someone as a carer.
A minimum of 5.6 weeks paid holiday per year is a statutory right for all employees in the UK. Employees who work part-time are entitled to 5.6 weeks pro-rata.
We help clients calculate this during payroll set up.
Employers have a duty to administer Statutory Payments for their employees whether this is Statutory Maternity, Adoption or Paternity Pay if they are eligible.
Disability Focus can submit a claim to HMRC on your behalf to recoup some or all the monies paid to your employee for a Statutory Payment to reimburse your funded account if the amount is not offset against Tax and National insurance for your payroll.
An employee who has earnt on average £123 per week and has been off work for four or more days continuously is entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).
Follow this link to HMRC website which will answer all your questions about tax.
Government legislation now requires all employers (including service user’s) to set up and manage a pension scheme for all of their employees – referred to as Workplace Pensions & Auto Enrolment. The set up of a pension scheme includes:
Follow this link to NEST website which will answer all your questions about Work Place Pensions & Auto Enrolment.
The gross wage is the amount of pay generated before tax and National Insurance contributions are deducted. The net wage will be the amount your employee actually receives after Tax and National Insurance has been deducted.
Disability Focus strongly recommend that employers make a gross pay agreement with their employees to protect and manage the total employment costs.
Disability Focus work alongside many professionals, local authorities and private organisations across the South West. Individuals are referred to Disability Focus through these agencies when an individual has been identified as lacking capacity to manage their own benefits and potentially benefiting from our Appointee Service.
Social and Healthcare professionals are able to refer clients to our appointeeship service, to give a trusted, independent money management service that has the clients best interest at the core of our work.
To discuss further please either contact us about the particular needs and circumstances of the client or simply download and complete our referral form by clicking HERE. Please then either email or send it to us.
After receipt of the completed referral form, together, we can agree the support required for the client being referred.
A corporate appointee is an organisation who has been recognised by DWP, like Disability Focus that has the ability and familiarity needed to manage the benefit responsibilities of a claimant.
When acting as a Deputy, the responsibility is to manage all of the individual’s financial affairs, which would include all sources of income and liabilities, assets such as property and valuables, pensions and all savings. This would be the case if the individual is assessed as being incapable of looking after their own affairs.
Corporate Appointees are responsible for looking after an individual’s benefits and possibly a small amount of savings. If an individual has an acting appointee and then needs to appoint a deputy the deputy will take over all of the above responsibilities.
An appointee can provide help to those individuals who are unable to claim the correct benefits, paying bills or managing income and outgoings. The appointee appointed can act on a temporary or permanent basis.
Appointeeship is a term used by the DWP. It is the term they use to summarise when an individual has taken legal responsibilities of receiving and managing a person’s welfare benefit entitlements.
If a person’s circumstances change then Disability Focus will need to inform DWP straight away. If an individual’s savings were to change then this could affect the amount of benefits that can be claimed.
As an acting appointee Disability Focus checks the balance for the individual each month to ensure compliance with the above. Should the threshold be reached Disability Focus would have to inform DWP.
As an acting appointee Disability Focus may request the release of any medical information under normal consent rules should the individual have a mental impairment. An appointee would also be able to sign on behalf of the individual for bank and building society interest to be paid, this would be without the deduction of income tax.
Being appointed as a corporate appointee does allow Disability Focus the authority to deal with an individual persons Post Office Account. However it does not allow Disability Focus to deal directly with capital or bank accounts or any other income belonging to the incapacitated individual.
You can view an overview of the services we provide and charges by downloading the document below.
Following the death of the person who has a Corporate Appointee, the appointee will need to inform DWP (Department of Work & Pensions) of the change of circumstances. A copy of the death certificate may be required to substantiate the change.
Once someone starts to act for the person under a registered lasting power of attorney or is made a deputy by the Court of Protection they will take over from the appointee in dealing with any benefits.
As part of the overall assessment the social worker should look at this aspect. They should also request more information from Disability Focus in case we would be able to help the individual further.
As part of a care assessment Social services can recommend that an appointee is necessary to help the individual.
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