Using direct payments and personal assistants you can employ personal assistants for:

Personal tasks like getting up, going to bed, washing and dressing.
A range of other activities to support you to live independently in the community.

S.I.L.C. is about supporting you in making your own decisions so that you have the responsibility for the people who assist you in your life.

Added 16th May 2006 Please note:

COST OF LIVING INCREASE

Service users in receipt of direct payments have been granted a 2.2% 'Cost of Living' increase by Surrey Social Services for the financial year 2006/7. The money should have been paid into your bank account for the 1st financial quarter ( March/April/May). Please check your account and if the money has not been credited, contact your Care Manager

ADVICE ON EMPLOYING PEOPLE FROM ABROAD

If you employ, or plan to employ, a personal assistant who is from outside the UK, you need to make sure that they have permission to work here. If they don’t have that permission, you are breaking the law and may be prosecuted if you employ them.

When you have chosen your new personal assistant (PA) you should ask him or her to produce documents showing that he or she is permitted to work in this country. To be on the safe side, and to avoid any suspicion of racial discrimination, you should ask anyone you want to employ for this documentation, whether or not they appear to you to be British. Appearances can be deceptive!

The documents that can establish a right to work here normally include passports and similar documents. The whole list of acceptable documents is too long to include in this short article. If you have access to the Internet you can find the information on www.employingmigrantworkers.org.uk. If you don't have Internet access, please contact SILC. Your Direct Payments Adviser will be able to send you a leaflet.

When you have checked the documents, you will need to keep copies of them.

The main classes of people that you can normally employ are British citizens, EU citizens, and overseas students with a stamp in their passports saying they can work here (except that they will usually be restricted to 20 hours a week during their term times).

Workers from some newer EU countries normally need to register with the Home Office, but they can do this after they have started working for you.

You should not allow anyone to start work unless you are satisfied that they are allowed to work here.

This information item cannot possibly cover all the situations that can arise. If you are in any doubt at all, please contact your DPA at SILC, who will be able to advise you or refer you to someone who has more detailed information.