How much do you have to do if you self manage your personal budget?
One of the earliest things I learnt is to keep notes, this does not necessarily mean reams of paperwork. Simple record systems are the best. See my blog on managing an electronic records system : https://haloabletec.blogspot.
One of the main things you need to ensure is that it is properly documented. These days you do not even have to write it down. I tend to generally tell members of my team first then send them a WhatsApp message. These are recorded and time and date stamped so you do not have subsequent issues. It is also searchable so it is easier to find specific information. If it is a bit longer then I will send a summary conversation and copy over email. More formal records are also carried out via in person meetings at least annually with staff again I have written about this before: https://haloabletec.blogspot.
Having these steps in place will ensure that your data and history is recorded and matters can be dealt with professionally
Onto the real legal stuff, often I see fellow personal budgets holders giving the same advice, along the lines of ‘check with your insurers’. One of the things insurers will ask is have you documented anything. If you have followed the steps above then you have already started. Otherwise they will ask you to do again anyway as proof and evidence is essential.
It is good practice, but a word of caution. Insurance companies make money primarily by not paying out. Hence their advice will always be on the side of caution which will result in them not loosing financially. It is not wrong but it is the business that they are in.
I have two issues generally in relation to their advice. It is very generic and based on standard HR advice usually thorough a generic legal firm at the end of a phone. This is okay but I would say there is nothing standard about our circumstances. The rules to date only relate to you being an employer and giving people their rights. Again correct. However, there is another side which is never put forward. Tribunals and courts are supposed to make decisions on fairness. Within this remit, they should be considering the size and nature of your business ie. you are a single employer, not for profit, managing your own care with your own disability issues. Often with barely enough money. With these things considered, the test for what you need to do is probably less than what a professional employer needs to do. It should be based on the test of reasonableness which takes in to consideration the size and structure of your business.
I am not saying you do not have to comply with the rules. You do, but the amount you have to do to comply by maybe much less than what you are instructed to do.
For example, if you have a member of staff who is sick regularly or ill, obviously the steps would be to initially talk to them, write to them and make any reasonable adjustments (possibly a visit to occupational therapy). Eventually, they are asked to leave due to being out of work for a long time. These are all standard procedures for a company and it can be long-winded and costly.
However, I would suggest that for someone running a personal budget under the circumstances it would be appropriate to shorten this process. The main argument is that the job is about looking after you, if you cannot do that, then the fundamental part of the employment contract is then void. You may have a counter argument of discrimination under the law if they havea disabilty, however remember that this also requires reasonable adjustments. It would be my argument that considering our own disabilities and lack of funds or resources it is not always reasonable. This is yet to be tested in the system, I am sure it will be sooner or later.
However, until this time the advice we will be given will continue to ask to go through our insurance, who inevitably from experience ask us to phone a legal helpline number, who again do not look at the circumstances but push us down the same old route.
The other issue is with the insurance companies themselves, they often have large convoluted documents with reams of wording ( termsand conditions) that mean little to most people. Again I believe the courts need and will take this into consideration. When considering fairness they need to also look at the difference in the strength and bargaining power of the parties. In this case, in our circumstances (barely a business) and who doesn't it for money or profit.
Some people who have searched through the wording of these documents have subsequently found out that there are limitations to some insurance which they were not aware of or financially accounted for in their budgets properly.
One of these may be that training has to be provided by a recognised trainer. Again I feel under the circumstances it may not be reasonable and appropriate. I am not saying that training is not needed. But what level of training is required. Say with manual handling. I send my team of seven annually, over WhatsApp links to sites that I require them to read. This will be where the basic legal rules are on say moving and handling (Health & Safety). A WhatsApp message is registered and receipted thus you have proof that you have done so. I will then follow up this up with in person training with other members of my team, and I will constantly supervise. Why do I do this rather than send them on a course?
The course I find is not relevant to my needs, and I believe is not sufficient. The reasoning behind this is that the training is provided in a large classroom environment, with a manual hoist using someone from the class to be the example. My circumstances require a much smaller space, a six-way ceiling track hoist, a number of different slings for different reasons and I have no movement or strength in body or limbs. A complete different scenario to what is being taught.
The authorites who give out our budgets do not help either. I have not seen any of them provide real practical advice or guidance on any matters that people who run budgets need to know about. Those who do have a preference provider who offer some limited advice often take the line of the insurance companies rather than offer practical real life advice. People have had to put it together themselves. A great resource for finding practical support is mycarebudget.org, a great repository of forms and details put together and is free to use.
It is a shame, running a personal budget is not hard and can be liberating. It does require some effort. However, until the authorities actually back up the holders with proper training, understanding and support. I feel it will be a system that could potentially save Social Care and Health but it is greatly underutilised, promoted or supported. Though there is much talk from Government and authorties about personlisation and choice, without truly understanding and offering such with resources to back it up. I'm sorry to say true indpendance choice and control will be limited.
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