Department of Health

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Personalisation

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Across Government, the shared ambition is to put people first through a radical reform of public services.  It will mean that people are able to live their own lives as they wish; confident that services are of high quality, are safe and promote their own individual needs for independence, well-being, and dignity.

This holistic approach is set out in 'Putting people first: a shared vision and commitment to the transformation of adult social care', the ministerial concordat launched on 10 December 2007.

Personalisation of social care services

Personalisation, including a strategic shift towards early intervention and prevention, will be the cornerstone of public services. This means that every person who receives support, whether provided by statutory services or funded by themselves, will have choice and control over the shape of that support in all care settings.

The work on direct payments and individual budgets, alongside that of In Control, are crucial to delivering greater personalisation, choice and improved quality. They are not separate initiatives or fleeting experiments, but fundamental components of a future social care system.

Putting People First personalisation toolkit

Published: 2 June 2008

The Putting People First personalisation loolkit is now available to support councils and their partners in their work to achieve the changes set out in Putting People First. Bringing together the learning so far from the Individual Budgets Pilot and the work of in Control, the toolkit is available online on the CSIP website.

Councils at various stages of implementing self-directed support can log on to find:

  • a planning for transformation framework to help councils map out their transformation programme
  • tools and guides on critical issues like resource allocation, brokerage and support planning
  • examples from individual budget pilot sites of plans, policies and protocols developed to introduce a new system.

During the summer, a team from the Care Services Improvement Partnership will share the materials in regional workshops with those leading transformation in councils.

LAC(DH)(2008)1: Transforming social care

Published: 17 January 2008

This Local Authority Circular sets out information to support the transformation of social care as signalled in the Department of Health's social care Green Paper, 'Independence, well-being and choice' (2005) and reinforced in the White Paper, 'Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services' in 2006.  It describes the vision for development of a personalised approach to the delivery of adult social care and context in which this policy is grounded.  It also includes copy of the Social Care Reform Grant Determination and the details of the new ring-fenced grant to help councils to redesign and reshape their systems over the next 3 years.

Putting People First

The framework for cross sector reform is set out in Putting People First: A shared vision and commitment to the transformation of Adult Social Care, the Ministerial Concordat launched on 10 December 2007.

The document establishes the collaboration between central and local Government, the sector’s professional leadership, providers and the regulator.  It sets out the shared aims and values, which will guide the transformation of adult social care and recognises that the sector will work across agendas with users and carers to transform people’s experience of local support and services.

Individual budgets

Individual budgets are designed to give individuals a full understanding of the finance that is available, in order to empower them to take control and make decisions about the care that they receive.

Direct payments

Direct payments are cash payments made to individuals who have been assessed as needing services, in lieu of social service provisions.

Additional links

Related links

Independence, choice and risk

Supporting people to make decisions about their lives, and manage risk.

Make an enquiry

To make an enquiry about DH policy related to direct payments please email:

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