Luton Borough Council

Your care and support plan

Your care and support plan is a document that you put together. It should identify your care needs and explain how they will be met. It should also show us how you want to spend your personal budget.

Once you have had an assessment of care needs we will give you your estimated personal budget to spend on the type of care you need. The next step is for you to create your support plan.

What is a care and support plan?

A care and support plan is about you and your life. You should tell us about the type of care you want and need, and identify any support or help you currently receive.

It will tell us how the care and support that you wish to spend your personal budget on will meet your care needs. It will show how this care and support will be the right option for you and how it will help to improve your wellbeing and keep you safe.

It details how much money we will pay towards your care, and also any financial contribution you may need to make.

Do I write my care and support plan myself?

Your care and support plan needs to come from you, but you can ask anyone you like to help you with it. It could be a member of your family, a friend, your carer, your social worker or someone independent.

The Direct Payments Support Service can offer independent help and advice on creating your plan.

What information do I need to put on my plan?

When you are ready to make your care and support plan we will give you a blank plan with guidelines about the sort of things you need to tell us about. As a guide here are the seven steps of your plan:

1. What is important to you?

We need to get a good sense of who you are and what matters to you. Tell us about: your lifestyle; who the important people are in your life; your interests and life in the community; what is important to you now; and any goals you have for the future.

2. What do you want to change or achieve?

Tell us about: what is, and isn’t, working right now; your living arrangements; care and support services you already have; if you want to try new activities, or try some old ones again.

3. What information and advice do you need?

Tell us about any information and advice you may need. This might be information on how we could meet or reduce your care needs or advice on how to prevent or delay the development of future care needs.

4. How will you arrange your support?

Tell us about: what support you need, when you want it, and who you want it from; any support needs which will be met informally, through help in the community or through your social circle.

5. How will you spend your personal budget?

We need to see: How your needs will be met by your personal budget and the exact cost of each care service, including how often you will need it.

6. How will you manage your support?

Tell us about: Who will look after the money and who will arrange payments? If you will be employing someone (such as a personal assistant) then tell us how you plan to handle your responsibilities as an employer.

7. How will you stay in control?

Tell us about: how your care decisions will be made and how your views will be considered if someone is making decisions on your behalf; and what the plan is in case of an emergency.

What if my care and support needs change?

We will book in some time to review your plan and see if it is still meeting in your needs. Your review will focus on you and your life to see what is working and whether your care and support could be improved. If things change you can request a review at any time by getting in touch with us.

What can I spend my personal budget on?

You can spend your personal budget on support that we agree with you will meet your care and support needs, and which are lawful, effective and affordable.

Follow this link to learn more about spending your personal budget.

What happens next?

Before your care can be put into place we will need to check that your support plan is:

specific and personal to you
clear and detailed
legal
clear that you are in control (no-one else is pressurising you to make decisions)
going to meet your assessed care needs and help you to achieve your goals
not going to leave you vulnerable or at risk and that any risks are well managed
within your budget
will keep you healthy, safe and well

Once we have agreed and signed off your care and support plan, you can get your personal budget and put your care and support plan into action. It will be reviewed from time to time to check that it is working.