Freedom of information response

Direct Payment Funds

Publication date: 
Thursday 22 August 2024
Request: 

1. Does your council hold records showing of the cash value of direct payment funds returned to your council? Are these recorded in the Local Authority accounts, or elsewhere?

2. Please can you provide figures for the cash value of direct payments repaid to the council for each of the last 5 years.

3. Please can you provide figures for the cash amount of the budget allocated by your council for direct payments for each of the last 5 years.

4. What happened to the returned funds?  ie, which budget were they paid into to allow them to be rationalised in the council's accounts?  I'm not looking for great detail here, just a question of were they added to general council funds, children's services, disabled children's services, etc.

5. Were the returned funds ring-fenced, and if so what were the returned funds ring-fenced to be used for?

In this request, whenever I refer to ‘direct payments’, please can you take this to mean a direct payment paid to a disabled child (or their family) for the purpose of meeting their social or care needs.

Response: 

1. Does your council hold records showing of the cash value of direct payment funds returned to your council? YES

Are these recorded in the Local Authority accounts, or elsewhere? LOCAL AUTHORITY ACCOUNTS

2. Please can you provide figures for the cash value of direct payments repaid to the council for each of the last 5 years.

Year

Repayment Total

   

23-24

                111,510

   

22-23

                  16,793

   

21-22

                  81,181

   

20-21

                    2,377

   

19-20

                  98,038

   

3. Please can you provide figures for the cash amount of the budget allocated by your council for direct payments for each of the last 5 years.

Year

Budget

   

23-24

                703,350

   

22-23

                703,350

   

21-22

                830,620

   

20-21

                643,211

   

19-20

                583,000

   

4. What happened to the returned funds?  ie, which budget were they paid into to allow them to be rationalised in the council's accounts?  I'm not looking for great detail here, just a question of were they added to general council funds, children's services, disabled children's services, etc.

Funds were returned to Disabled Children's budget

 

5. Were the returned funds ring-fenced, and if so what were the returned funds ring-fenced to be used for?

NOT RING-FENCED

 
Request reference:
FOI 14153