What is Self-Directed Support (SDS)

The Scottish Government believes everyone should be in control of their life. In order to achieve this, they introduced The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013. This Act came into force in April 2014 and places a duty on local authorities to offer people who are eligible for social care a range of choices over how they receive their social care and support.

SDS allows people, their carers and their families to make informed choices on what their support looks like and how it is delivered so that it meets their agreed outcomes.

SDS includes a range of options to ensure everyone can exercise choice and control:

• a Direct Payment;
• funding allocated to a provider of your choice (sometimes called an individual service fund, where the council holds the budget but the person is in charge of how it is spent);
• the council can arrange a service for you; or
• you can choose a mix of these 3 options for different types of support.

What can you use SDS for?

SDS can be used in many ways. You can get support to live in your own home, such as help with having a bath or getting washed and dressed. Out of the home it could support you to go to college, to continue in employment or take a job, or to enjoy leisure pursuits more. Instead of relying on the activities run at a day centre, you might arrange for a personal assistant (PA) to help you attend local classes, go swimming, or be a volunteer helping others. It could also be used to provide a short break (respite) or for equipment and temporary adaptations.

You can choose whether you would prefer to get support from a service provider such as a voluntary organisation or care agency, or by employing PA’s, or a combination of both.

For more information on SDS you can visit the Scottish Government’s website www.selfdirectedsupportscotland.org.uk

How can Archway Support You with SDS?

You can use your family member’s SDS budget to purchase a variety of respite breaks – whether that be on a regular basis or for an annual holiday. Please visit our respite services [insert link to page] page to find out more about the kind of respite breaks that we can provide or contact our Admin Office to talk to one of our team – Tel: 01224 643327 or email: admin@archway.org.uk.