Direct Payments Have Your Say

THE COST OF CHOICE

Direct Payments: Your Experience Matters

An England-wide review led by Gloucestershire Parent Carer Alliance, supported by Professor Luke Clements.

About this project

Direct Payments are intended to give people greater choice, control, independence and dignity in arranging the support they need.

But how well do they work in real life?

The Cost of Choice is an England-wide project exploring how local authority Direct Payment systems work in practice, including whether budgets reflect the actual cost of support, whether people receive clear and useful information, and what happens when the system does not work as intended.

We want to understand both the challenges people experience and the approaches that help Direct Payments work well.

Your experience can help us identify what needs to change and highlight good practice that could benefit people across England.

You do not need to be an expert in Direct Payments or the law. We want to hear about your experiences, in your own words. You do not need to prove that anything has gone wrong or make a judgement about whether a council has acted lawfully.

Completing this form is voluntary. You can answer the questions relevant to your experience and leave optional questions blank.

Relevant Links

The Care and Support (Direct Payments) Regulations 2014

Care Action 2014

Thank you for helping us understand the real cost of choice.

SECTION 1: ABOUT YOU

2. Which local authority is your experience about?

4. Who is the Direct Payment intended to support? Select all that apply. Required

5. What is your involvement with the Direct Payment? Select all that apply. Required

I receive or manage the Direct Payment

I help a family member manage the Direct Payment

I employ or support a Personal Assistant

I provide advice or support to Direct Payment users

I work for an organisation involved in Direct Payments

Other

SECTION 2: YOUR EXPERIENCE OF DIRECT PAYMENTS

SECTION 3: THE DIRECT PAYMENT BUDGET

22. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the budget or its calculation?

ADDITIONAL OPTIONAL QUESTION - if you do not wish to participate in these questions please skip to Section 9

SECTION 2 ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: YOUR EXPERIENCE OF DIRECT PAYMENTS

32. What works well about the Direct Payment system?

33. Are you already paying any additional costs yourself to make your Direct Payment care package work? Select all that apply.

Fuel or travel costs for a Personal Assistant (PA) or carer

Activity costs when a PA or carer accompanies the person receiving care

Entrance fees or admission charges for a PA or carer

Parking charges

Additional employment costs

Other costs – please specify

No additional costs

Unsure

SECTION 5 ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: MONITORING, AUDITS AND DISPUTES

44. Please tell us about any significant dispute, audit, repayment or clawback issue.

SECTION 8: SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

Any images

Select File

Any documents

Select File

All uploaded documents will be anonymised. Alternatively email them to office@parentandcarerallaince.org.uk

SECTION 9: CONSENT AND FOLLOW-UP

61. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about how your information may be used?

62. If you are an organisation and would like to provide your experiences please provide details here:

If you would like to take part as a case study please provide the below contact details -

Do you consent to share? If you don't consent to share we cannot use your lived experiences to further our development and support.

The information you provide in this form will be treated confidentially and used only for the purposes of delivering and improving our services. Any reports, monitoring information or case studies produced from this data will be anonymised, meaning that no individual will be identifiable. Your personal information will be stored securely and processed in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We will only share your information where we have your consent, where it is necessary to provide support, or where we are required to do so by law. By submitting this form, you confirm that the information you have provided is accurate and that you understand how your data will be used. If you have any questions about how we collect, store or process your information, please contact us.

Your Signature

THANK YOU

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with The Cost of Choice.

Your contribution will help Parent and Carer Alliance build a clearer picture of how Direct Payment systems work in practice across England.

By understanding both the barriers people face and the approaches that work well, we hope to identify opportunities to improve transparency, accountability and the ability of Direct Payments to deliver genuine choice, control, independence and dignity.

Every experience can help build that picture.

The Cost of Choice — understanding the difference between the budget on paper and the support in real life.

THE COST OF CHOICE

SECTION 1: ABOUT YOU

SECTION 2: YOUR EXPERIENCE OF DIRECT PAYMENTS

SECTION 3: THE DIRECT PAYMENT BUDGET

ADDITIONAL OPTIONAL QUESTION - if you do not wish to participate in these questions please skip to Section 9

SECTION 2 ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: YOUR EXPERIENCE OF DIRECT PAYMENTS

SECTION 4 ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: INFORMATION, GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT

SECTION 5 ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: MONITORING, AUDITS AND DISPUTES

SECTION 6: TELL US WHAT HAPPENED

SECTION 7: POSITIVE PRACTICE AND IMPROVEMENTS

SECTION 8: SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

SECTION 9: CONSENT AND FOLLOW-UP

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