Direct Payment support

A Direct Payment gives you choice.
It also gives you a job.

Choosing your own support suits a lot of people, and for some it is the only arrangement that fits their life. What nobody mentions at the start is the employment law, the payslips, the pension duties and the record-keeping that arrive with it. Oakline takes that side on.

Talk to us about your arrangement First, what is a Direct Payment?
Before anything else

Who decides what.

This is worth being blunt about, because a lot of confusion starts here and some organisations are vague about it on purpose.

Your local authority or NHS body decides

  • Whether you are eligible for funded support at all
  • What your assessed needs are
  • What support will be funded, and how much
  • Whether you can take that funding as a Direct Payment
  • The conditions attached to it, including what it can be used for
  • Whether a family member may be paid, where that is even possible

Oakline can help with

  • Explaining the process and the words people use in it
  • Helping you prepare for an assessment or review
  • Going through what has been agreed and what it asks of you
  • Recruiting and checking a Personal Assistant
  • Payroll, contracts and employment administration
  • Keeping records that stand up to a review
  • Being available when something unexpected happens

We have no influence over funding decisions. Oakline is not a local authority, NHS body or Integrated Care Board. We cannot obtain funding, guarantee an amount, speed up a decision or appeal on your behalf as an advocate. If you need independent advocacy or advice, we will point you towards it.

What we take on

The work that arrives with the money.

You can hand over all of this, or just the part that is causing the most trouble.

  • Payroll and pay administration
    Payslips, PAYE and National Insurance, Real Time Information submissions, statutory sick and holiday pay calculations, and workplace pension duties including assessment and re-enrolment. Your Personal Assistant gets paid correctly and on time, and you are not the one working out tax codes.
  • Employment documentation
    Contracts of employment and written statements of terms, job descriptions that reflect the support actually needed, and the policies a small employer is expected to have.
  • Recruitment and replacement
    Advertising, sifting, shortlisting, arranging interviews and running pre-employment checks. When a Personal Assistant moves on, we start again quickly rather than leaving you to advertise on a Sunday evening. More on PA support
  • Checks and compliance
    Right-to-work verification, DBS coordination at the appropriate level, and reference checks. We tell you what is required for your situation rather than applying a one-size-fits-all list.
  • Training coordination
    Arranging the training your Personal Assistant needs for the support you receive, and keeping a record of what has been completed and when it needs refreshing.
  • Records and reviews
    Clear records of hours, pay, leave and spend, organised so that a review or audit of your budget is a short conversation rather than a scramble through a drawer.
  • Someone to ask
    Employment questions rarely arrive at a convenient time. Having somewhere to send “can she take this as holiday?” is often the part people value most.
Getting started with us

Four steps, and the first one is just talking.

  1. A conversation

    You tell us where you are — assessment pending, budget just approved, or an arrangement that has grown messy. We tell you what we would do and what it would cost. Nothing is committed at this stage.

  2. We map out what is already in place

    What has been agreed, who is currently employed, what documentation exists and what is missing. Often this alone makes people feel considerably better.

  3. We set the administration up properly

    Payroll registered, contracts issued, records structured, checks confirmed. If recruitment is needed, that runs alongside.

  4. It runs, and we stay reachable

    Pay goes out, records stay current, and you have a named point of contact for anything that comes up — including the awkward things.

Questions

Direct Payment questions.

Can Oakline help me get a Direct Payment?

We can help you understand the process, prepare for an assessment and know what questions to ask. We cannot get you a Direct Payment, and nobody honest can promise that.

Whether you are eligible, and what is funded, is decided by your local authority or the relevant NHS body after an assessment of your needs.

What can a Direct Payment be spent on?

On the support agreed in your care and support plan. That usually means paying a Personal Assistant, buying support from a care provider, or a combination. Some plans include related costs such as employer’s National Insurance, insurance or payroll support.

It cannot be treated as general income, and it cannot be spent on things outside the agreed plan. If you are unsure whether something is allowed, ask your council or NHS contact before you spend it.

Who is responsible if something goes wrong with the money?

The person holding the Direct Payment is accountable for using it in line with the agreed arrangement, and for keeping records that show that. That is one of the main reasons people ask us to run the administration.

We keep clear records of pay, hours, holiday and deductions so that a review or audit is straightforward rather than stressful.

What is a managed account or a third-party budget?

Some councils and NHS bodies allow a Direct Payment to be held and administered by an organisation on the person’s behalf, rather than paid into their own account. The terminology and the rules vary between areas.

What is available to you depends on your local arrangements. We will tell you what we can and cannot do within them rather than assume.

We already have a Direct Payment but it is a mess. Is it too late?

No, and this is a common reason people contact us. We can pick up existing arrangements, sort out payroll and records, and get things back to a position where a review is nothing to worry about.

No obligation

Send us a rough description and we will tell you where you stand.

You do not need documents, reference numbers or the right terminology. A few sentences is enough for a useful reply.

Talk to us about personalised support

Where to go next