“Direct payments must cover full cost of care” say legal experts

3 mins read

Tuesday 7 October 2025

Direct payments should be enough to cover the full cost of providing social care support for a disabled child, the Law Commission has said.

Direct payment reform is one of 40 key recommendations in the Law Commission’s landmark review of disabled children’s social care aimed a fixing an outdated system that fails many families.

Contact has welcomed the report and is urging the Government to implement the reforms without delay.

Parents can use our template email to ask their MP to urge the government to accept the reforms and implement them swiftly. (This will take less than a minute.)

What is a direct payment and what’s the issue?

A direct payment allows families to buy care and support services themselves, But the current law is vague about whether payments must be sufficient, leaving many families out of pocket or unable to recruit paid carers.

Many families tell Contact that direct payments are not enough to attract paid carers. Parents are forced to top up wages from their own pockets or struggle on without help and return unspent funds to the council.

What did the Law Commission find?

Direct payments offer flexibility, but they’re not working effectively, and disabled children’s needs are going unmet. The commission found:

  • Payments are often too low to secure the support a child needs.
  • Families struggle to recruit carers due to workforce shortages
  • Local authorities don’t always review payments or step in when recruitment problems arise
  • Parents face complex responsibilities like managing sick pay, holiday pay, and liability insurance

What does the Law Commission recommend?

The law currently says direct payments should be “adequate,” but government guidance only requires them to be “reasonable” which leads to inconsistency and unfairness.

The commission recommends:

  • Reforming Section 17A of the Children Act 1989 to guarantee that direct payments are sufficient to meet the actual costs of providing care to meet a disabled child’s assessed needs.
  • Introducing new statutory guidance so payments are consistent across the country and reflect real-world costs.
  • Local authorities should not be required to make a direct payment if it would have an adverse impact on other care services they provide for disabled children or if securing the provision is not an efficient use of the authority’s resources.

What other reforms is the Law Commission recommending to fix disabled children’s social care?

Tell your MP to urge government to act

Send our template email to your MP and urge the government to act on the Law Commission’s recommendations. (This will take less than a minute.)