Risk, safeguarding and personal budgets:exploring relationships and identifying good practice

There are fears that people using Personal Budgets (PBs), particularly Direct Payments (DPs), to arrange their care and support may be at greater risk of abuse and neglect than people using conventionally commissioned care services, particularly if they hire unregulated care workers, or rely on relatives or others to manage their money. However, there are predictions that PBs may enhance safety through increasing people's control over their own care. This study aimed to establish whether people using Direct Payments or Managed Personal Budgets are: more likely to be referred to the council with a safeguarding concern compared with people using conventional services, at higher risk of certain types of abuse.