personal finance

Modelling the relationship between needs and costs: how accurate resource allocation can deliver personal budgets and personalisation

Resource allocation systems based upon measures of need are one widely adopted approach to estimating the cost of the individual service user's care package in a manner directly proportionate to individual need.

However, some recent studies have questioned the feasibility and utility of such systems, arguing that the relationship between needs and costs cannot be modelled with sufficient accuracy to provide a useful guide to individual allocation. In contrast, this paper presents three studies demonstrating that this is possible.

Carers and personalisation: what roles do carers play in personalised adult social care?

The Social Policy Research Unit examined how current English adult social care practice balances the interests of service users and family carers, in assessment, planning, on-going management and reviews of personal budgets, particularly when budget-holders have cognitive or communication impairments.

The study examined senior local authority perspectives, everyday practice by frontline staff and experiences of service users and carers.

How self-directed support is failing to deliver personal budgets and personalisation

Discussion paper on why the underpinning notion of self directed support seems to have failed in its ambitions. It also looks at how the concepts of personalisation and personal budgets associated with self-directed support may retain value if interpreted in an appropriate way, delivered through an appropriate strategy.

Systematic review of the impact of financial circumstances on access to post-16 learning in the Learning and Skills Council sector

This review aims to determine the impact of financial circumstances on access to learning in this sector. This systematic review was published by EPPI-Centre in 2005. Systematic reviews aim to find as much as possible of the research relevant to the particular research questions, and use explicit methods to identify what can reliably be said on the basis of these studies.