What is an Individual Service Fund?
An Individual Service Fund is a way of managing your personal care budget.
If you are eligible for support from the Council you will have an assessment of your needs. The Council then decides how much the support to meet your needs may cost. This is known as your Personal Budget.
There are three main ways in which a Personal Budget can be used:
- The Council manages it for you
- As a Direct Payment to you
- Via an Individual Service Fund
A fourth option could be to choose to have a mixture of the above options.
With an Individual Service Fund someone who needs care and support (and/or their family, advocate or carer) chooses an organisation to manage the budget on their behalf.
That organisation works with them to plan care, support and activities that will help them to achieve their identified outcomes.
Why choose an Individual Service Fund?
Of the three payment options:
- Council-managed services can have lower levels of choice and control for the individual
- Direct Payments have higher levels of choice and control but also high levels of responsibility and paperwork
- Individual Service Fund provide a middle option for choice and control
An Individual Service Fund is a good option if you want more choice and control over who supports you and how they do it, but you cannot or don’t want to manage the financial aspects of it yourself.
What is my next step if I want an Individual Service Fund?
If you are already receiving support you need to speak to your social worker.
If you are not already receiving support you can request help here.
What are my responsibilities with an Individual Service Fund?
You should be willing to work in partnership with your Individual Service Fund Provider to decide how you use your budget.
You will need to be able to tell your Individual Service Fund Provider what support services, activities or opportunities you would like to engage in and also if you are happy with the support you receive.
An agreement between you and your Individual Service Fund Provider will need to be signed.
You may be required to make a financial contribution towards your care and support. If this applies to you will need to pay your contribution to your provider. If you don’t, you may not be able to have an Individual Service Fund.
What else is important to know about Individual Service Funds?
The Council will pay your Individual Service Fund to your Individual Service Fund Provider in instalments every four weeks.
It will be paid onto an AllPay payment card which the provider will hold on to on your behalf.
You can save up to four weeks’ worth of your funding to use flexibly, as long as it’s used within that financial year. The financial year runs from 6 April of one year to 5 April of the next year.
If you build up over four weeks' of funding the Council may reclaim any funds over the four-week amount unless a specific agreement has been made by all parties that additional funds can be put aside for an agreed reason. The Council will check with your Individual Service Fund Provider before reclaiming any funds.
What if I am unhappy with my service?
You should speak to Adult Social Care at the Council on 0300 1234 131 or email directpaymentsadviceteam@cornwall.gov.uk and your Individual Service Fund Provider if you are not happy with your Individual Service Fund. You should follow your provider’s complaints procedure.
If you feel the Individual Service Fund is not working you can speak to your provider or the Council about ending the arrangement.
You can request a review of your care needs via our ‘Request help for an adult’ page.
