Disabled Children’s Service direct payments review

The Disabled Children’s Service are currently undertaking a financial review of our direct payments system. This is ensure that we get greater consistency around the distribution of payments and a fairer system for all.

One area of this review is to look at payments made via the Devon Card accounts, whereby money has been transferred to the card holder’s personal account or to an account that appears to be that of a family member.

Devon’s policy states that family members who reside with a disabled child cannot be paid (except during the period April to September 2020). Payments should only be made to a family member if they are formally employed by you so that the correct taxation can be arranged.

With this in mind, we would like to remind you not to make reimbursements to your personal account unless absolutely necessary. If it is absolutely necessary, please ensure you a record of the transaction notes why and what it was for. Please also ensure that you keep receipts for any items purchased.

In January, the service will be writing to all those who have used their Devon Card in this way to ask them to provide a further explanation and receipts for these transactions as part of the audit. The letter will also outline expected dates for parent carers as to when they will get a response from the service, following the information being received and also outline any potential findings at this stage from the audit work.