Direct payments and personal budgets

Jon Glasby is Professor of Health and Social Care and Co-Director of the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham. A qualified social worker by background, he is also a board member of theSocial Care Institute for Excellence.Rosemary Littlechild is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the Institute of Applied Social Studies in the School of Social Policy at the University of Birmingham. She is a qualified social worker and herresearch and publication interests are in work with older people, community care, partnership working between social care and health services, and service user and carer involvement.

"An excellent analysis of the journey from the Poor Law to the present day. Highly recommended." Jenny Owen, Executive Director, Adults, Health and Community Wellbeing, Essex County Council "Helpful to have this all in one text. It explores important issues related to user empowerment." Karin Crawford, University of Lincoln

• Introduction; History - why direct payments and personal budgets are different from what went before; Direct payments - where they came from and how they developed; The lessons of direct payments - how they spread and what they achieved; Personal budgets - where they came from and why they matter; The advantages of direct payments and personal budgets; Possible barriers; Conclusions - implications for community care.