Welfare Reform on the Web (April 2009): Social care - UK - community care

Simplifying direct payments: how Lincolnshire County Council utilised risk management to deliver genuine improvement

N. Rowlett and S. Deighton

Journal of Care Services Management, vol. 3, 2009, p. 131-143

Direct cash payments by local authorities enables community care recipients to purchase their own services instead of receiving them from the council. This paper describes how Lincolnshire County Council used a risk management approach to reduce the burdensome processes of monitoring direct payment recipients and auditing their use of the money. Identifying risks and introducing measures to mitigate them enabled the development of a more effective service, produced efficiency savings and increased take up.