Mediation and disagreement resolution - Personal Social Care Budget

The criteria by which a child is evaluated as eligible for Personal Social Care Budget funding and how funding is calculated is set out in the document “Children with Disabilities Access to Services”. (THIS DOCUMENT IS CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW JAN 2022)

How support plans are considered and approved is set out in the document “Support Planning Guidance”. (THIS DOCUMENT IS CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW JAN 2022)

Council staff will follow these guidelines to make decisions about eligibility, support plans and funding. The following process is intended to promote a positive approach to listening to families, ensuring all their views are considered and seeking to work through disagreements. This process does not affect the right of the family to use the complaints procedure at any time or at the end of this process set out below.

A process to resolve disagreements

• The family may challenge the indicative allocation because they do not believe it is scored correctly. The family will be invited to show where they have been under or over-scored and suggest a different score and a rationale. This will be considered by the social worker.
• If after this reconsideration the family contest the score then the team manager will be asked to review the contested scores.
• The council will write to the family after the team manager's review stating the score and the rationale. At this point the council will be confident that the RAS questionnaire has been completed fairly and is as accurate as possible.
• Where the dispute is not about the scoring the family will be encouraged to plan with the indicative amount. The council can re-evaluate their position best after a support plan has been completed. The support plan process will provide a good test whether assessed need can be met at the price offered by the council.
• If the family remains unhappy after planning then they will be offered a meeting with the team manager who will consider their point of view.
• If the family wishes after this meeting to challenge the allocation or after submitting their plan seek a higher allocation which children’s services feel they cannot agree then they may present their points of disagreement to the service manager.
• The service manager will confirm the outcome of the discussion to the family in writing.
• The family can be supported in this process by anyone or any organisation they choose. Four voluntary organisations understand the council’s Personal Social Care Budget process well and are available to support families with this process.