Brokerage Support Services

What is a support broker?

In general, a support broker is someone who assists people with their individual budgets to find out what services they need and helping them to find the most suitable provider.

However, the broker’s role can vary wildly depending on the local authority in which they operate and their contract with the individual; some brokers are far more involved than others. For example, in some local authorities, brokers will never meet the client, and plan the care package for the individual based on reports presented to them.

The role of support brokers

The role of a support broker is to help someone to become independent, and although they may source a different care package to them, they should ensure the individual makes the choices.

Brokers only assist in areas in which they are requested to help, and should balance the individual’s needs with providing value for money.

Community Access Group support brokers also provide advocacy as part of the service – although this would be stipulated in the contract between the individual and the broker if this is the case.

Who are support brokers?

A support broker is a nominated individual who plans the support packages for the person who needs it. Potentially, brokers may also be ‘bought’ or employed – in a similar way to the financial sector – meaning those who can afford to pay for professional brokers can do so, while others may pay family members or friends from their individual budget. Many local authorities are choosing to pay for the brokerage service however, this may change in the future and varies from authority to authority.

Who can use support brokers?

Anyone accessing care services can use a support broker to help find the support they need. However, people should not feel that they should have a broker if they don’t want one.

What can support brokers assist with?

Support brokers can assist with a variety of aspects of the care package – not just simply setting up the service. This includes:

  • Setting up an assessment of needs
  • Helping plan the support process
  • Negotiating the individual budget and its uses
  • Organising support to help manage the individual budget
  • Evaluating the service the person receives

However, the service user must delegate to the support broker which services are required and in which areas assistance is needed.

Independence

All support brokers – no matter who they are employed by – should be independent, and operate solely with the individual’s best interests at heart.

The wealth of choice offered by personalisation should ensure this, although ‘professional’ brokers should still show no bias to the industry that employs them.
Likewise, organisations should not provide a broker if they also provide some element of the care package, as this is a conflict of interest.

How long do brokers stay involved for?

There is some debate as to the exact role of a broker once the support network is in place. If brokers stay involved throughout the case the likelihood is, for professional brokers at least, that they would soon acquire unmanageable case loads and get tied up by bureaucracy.

However, if brokers are required to evaluate the success of services, they need to be in regular contact with the service user. Consequently, the brokerage may have its own guidelines, or it may be down to the service user to decide what level of involvement is required.

Getting the most out of the system

Support brokers provide a broad service, covering everything from establishing the type of support needed to evaluating its effectiveness.

To ensure service users get the most out of the system, they should establish clear boundaries with the broker, ensuring they are aware of the areas in which support is needed and the level of support desired.

Striking a balance

Defining the responsibility of the broker ensures the system is perfect for achieving a balance between support and empowerment.

The role of support brokers – like many in the personalisation process – is to establish what is important to the service user and to work towards that goal. But this may mean striking a balance between being happy and being safe for example. Therefore, the support broker must always try to advise the service user to find this balance if the care plan is to succeed.

What Is Support Brokerage?

Support brokers are your independent guides to make sure you can live the life of your choice if you are a disabled person, older person or family carer.

Support brokerage originated in North America in the late 1970′s and has been developed in the UK since 1996 with the introduction of the Direct Payments Act in 1996.

Following the In Control and Care Services Improvement Partnerships national self-directed support pilots in 2005 and 2007, brokerage is seen as a crucial component of the move towards the transformation of social care under the Governments’ Personalisation policies.

Who do we support?

The service caters for:

  • Older people
  • People with physical disabilities or sensory impairments
  • Those with autism or Asperger’s Syndrome
  • People with complex needs
  • People with learning disabilities
  • People with substance dependency needs
  • Ethnic Minorities and those whose language isn’t English

The Support Plan Package

  • Help you write a support plan
  • Costing the support plan
  • Help you with brokering the right support
  • Identifying and evaluating of potential support options
  • Finding and negotiating, and contracting with support providers
  • Finding and/or preparing community services and resources
  • Building personal networks and/or helping you to do so
  • Support you becoming an employer
  • Help With Payroll
  • Help you with Council Monitoring Forms
  • Help you make the right choices “Support For All”
  • We will help you implement your plan and review it within the first 3 months, making all the necessary changes during the three months period and at review stage
  • Mediating and solving any issues that arise along the way
  • 24 hour helpline. Help whenever you need

PA We Will Also

  • Personal Assistant (PA) matching
    • Employment support for the hiring and management of PA’s
  • Transition Support
    • Advocacy
    • Training
  • Travel Planning
  • Assistive Technology,
  • Money Management
  • Benefits Advice service

This fantastic service is only £100 we will work with you so you get the right support at the right time when you need it!

As part of the PA support service we will also

  • Registration with HMRC and help with insurance
  • Payroll set up and relevant schemes
  • Payslips for each employee
  • Notification of liability to HMRC (Tax and NI)
  • Full support service for all enquiries provided by a
  • 24hour call centre
  • Starter and leaver paperwork
  • Completion of all government forms on behalf of employees
  • Requesting statutory payments to employee’s
  • (Maternity/Sick pay etc)
  • Calculation of Tax, National Insurance and any other
  • statutory deductions

Our basic support package is at £15.75 per hour
There is a charging cap at £135 so it doesn’t matter how long it takes after that!! You won’t get charged extra.