Social security

The claimant completed a personal budget supported self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ). After a hospital visit she completed another and was allocated a higher points score; however the monetary value was unchanged and no reasons given.

The court ruled that there was a requirement for there to be reasons given by a panel that was making a decision relating to a personal budget, and the provision of direct payments under s 57 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 in discharge of its duty under s 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.

Personal budgets were new and in many ways represented a fundamental shift in community care. It would have to be incumbent on those responsible for that provision, to be transparent, and to explain individual decisions in a precise and clear manner.