The Support Plan
Whenever the Local Authority intends to meet the needs of a carer under either its duty or powers, Section 24 of the Care Act requires it to prepare a Support Plan.
A Support Plan is a document prepared by the Local Authority which specifies:
- The needs identified by the carers assessment;
- Which of those needs are eligible (applying the national eligibility criteria); and
- Which needs the Local Authority is going to meet and how it is going to meet them.
The Local Authority has a duty to meet eligible needs and a power to meet all other needs.
Under Section 25 of the Care Act the Local Authority must ensure that a Support Plan contains the following information:
- The needs identified by the carers assessment;
- Which of these needs meet the national eligibility criteria;
- Which needs the Local Authority is going to meet and how it is going to meet them;
- The personal budget (see The Personal Budget);
- Advice and information about what can be done to meet or reduce the needs in question;
- Advice and information about what can be done to prevent or delay the development of needs for Support in the future; and
- Where a Direct Payment is to be provided, the needs that are to be met by the Direct Payment and the amount and frequency of the Direct Payment (see Direct Payments).
It can also be useful for the Support Plan to contain further information about the carer's Wellbeing and the outcomes they would like the plan to help them to achieve. The Local Authority has a duty to promote Wellbeing and including it within the plan can help them to give proper consideration to how they can do so.
In preparing the Support Plan the Local Authority must involve:
- The carer for whom it is being prepared; and
- Any other person who the carer has asked the Local Authority to involve.
Some carers will want to be more involved in their plan than others. Some carers may wish to actually create their plan, either independently or with the support of another. The Care Act gives the Local Authority the power to authorise the carer, or anyone else to prepare the plan jointly with it if it considers this appropriate.
Where the Local Authority has authorised the carer or another person to prepare the Support plan jointly with it, it must facilitate this by providing relevant information it holds about the carer.
Some carers will have substantial difficulty being involved in the Support Planning process. The Local Authority has a duty to determine who these carers are and to provide independent advocacy to facilitate their involvement. For further information about the advocacy duty, including how to establish substantial difficulty see The Duty to Provide an Independent Advocate.
The Support Plan 'belongs' to the carer it is intended for, with the Local Authority’s role being to ensure the production and sign-off of the plan to ensure that it is appropriate to meet the identified needs.
Ultimately, the guiding principle in the development of the plan is that the process should be person-centred and person-led, in order to meet the needs and achieve the outcomes of the carer in ways that work best for them as an individual or part of a family.
Both the process and the outcomes should be built holistically around the carers wishes and feelings, their needs, values and aspirations.
During the Support Planning process the Local Authority should support the carer (and their advocate if appropriate) to explore:
- The range of Support options available to them; and
- The methods for managing the Support (for example, via a Direct Payment).
The indicative personal budget amount should be shared with the carer (and anyone else involved in completing the plan) at the start of Support planning.
Providing an indicative budget enables the carer to exercise greater choice and take control over how their Support needs are met. It means knowing, before Support planning begins, an estimate of how much money will be available to meet a carer's assessed needs.
The budget will be revised and refined through the process to reach the final personal budget amount. Those involved should be made aware that the budget can go both up and down as a result of the Support planning process.
For information about how the indicative personal budget amount should be calculated see Deciding the Indicative Budget and Personal Budget Amounts.
One of the decisions that must be made when preparing the Support Plan is how the personal budget will be managed.
The person carrying out the Support planning process must be able to provide good, accessible information and advice about the different ways that a personal budget can be managed so that the carer can make an informed decision about what would work best for them.
Carers often choose to manage their personal budget via a Direct Payment, but they do not have to do so. Other options, such as the Local Authority managing the personal budget or an Individual Service Fund approach should also be made available.
Whatever method of managing the personal budget is agreed the Local Authority must be able to amend this at any point should it no longer be appropriate or desired.
The Care Act recognises a wide range of methods for meeting needs and expects the Local Authority to be open to exploring all that appear relevant.
Sometimes the best way to meet a carers needs is to provide a service to the person they are caring for (for example, periods of respite care to give the carer a break).
For further information about the range of ways that the Local Authority can meet needs see How needs can be met by the Local Authority.
The Local Authority must take all reasonable steps to reach an agreement with the carer for whom the plan is being prepared about how the Local Authority should meet the needs in question and the method of managing the personal budget.
In seeking to ensure that the plan is proportionate to the needs to be met, the Local Authority must have regard to:
- Whether the carer is able, and is likely to continue to be able, to provide care for the person needing care;
- Whether the carer is willing, and is likely to continue to be willing, to provide care for the person needing care;
- The Wellbeing of the carer;
- The outcomes that the carer wishes to achieve in day-to-day life;
- To what extent the Support provision could contribute to the achievement of those outcomes;
- Whether the carer works or wishes to do so; and
- Whether the carer is participating in or wishes to participate in education, training or recreation.
If it is not possible to reach an agreement about the Support Plan, the carer should be provided with information about the complaints process.
One of the considerations when signing-off the Support Plan is the cost to the Local Authority of the plan. This cost will be the final personal budget amount (before any financial contribution by the carer is taken into account).
For information about deciding the personal budget amount see Deciding the Indicative Budget and Personal Budget Amounts.
When the final personal budget amount is agreed, the Local Authority should ensure that the Support Plan contains all of the required information relating to it:
- The cost to the Local Authority of meeting eligible needs it is either required to do (under its duty) or decides to do (under its powers);
- The amount which, on the basis of a financial assessment, the carer must pay towards the cost; and
- The amount which the Local Authority is going to contribute towards the cost.
The Local Authority must give a copy of the Support Plan to:
- The carer for whom it has been prepared; and
- Any other person the carer has asked the Local Authority to give a copy to.
The Care Act permits the Local Authority to combine a Support Plan with a Care and Support Plan or with any another plan of any kind. However it must only do this when:
- The person for whom the plan is being written agrees; or
- The person for whom the plan lacks capacity but the Local Authority makes a best interests decision to that effect.
Last Updated: February 12, 2024
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