Stranraer Shared Lives

What is the role of the Shared Lives carer?

As a Shared Lives carer you will support the person to do all the things they need help with in their daily lives, such as cooking, shopping, getting washed and dressed, going out, getting to appointments or taking medication.

As a Shared Lives carer you will open up your home to an individual. They will have the same interests as you and you will welcome them into your social circle so that you can enjoy doing things together.

If you are providing a short break service, you will support the person to go out and about and enjoy the local attractions.

As a Shared Lives carer will get to know the person’s family too, if that is what they want.

How do we choose Shared Lives carers?

People who want to be a Shared Lives carer will complete an application form. You will undergo a thorough assessment by the Shared Lives service.

The assessment covers lots of things about what your skills are, how you like to live your life, the kind of things you enjoy. We need to make sure that you have good values and respect other people.

You have to provide good references. These will be work references and/or character references.

We need to have a letter from your GP saying that you are fit to undertake the responsibilities of a Shared Lives carer.

We make sure that the carer is a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme to check if you have criminal convictions.

If there are any criminal convictions we will do a risk assessment. Our panel will make a judgement about whether we should continue to assess you to be a carer or not.

We check with any other professional registers that you may be on. For instance, you may have worked as a nurse, we will check with the nursing register to make sure that it is okay to recruit you.

We do other checks, with mortgage lenders or housing providers to make sure that it is okay for someone else to live at that address.

We make sure that you have all the right insurance cover, such as public liability, buildings and contents as well as car insurance, to make sure that both you and the person you will support are covered.

Once we have done all of that, we do a report to our panel and let them see all the checks we have done.

We will make a recommendation to the panel. The panel make the final decision about whether the Shared Lives carer should be recruited.

Do Shared Lives carers get paid?

Yes. Shared Lives carers are paid to provide support and accommodation.

Payment is made directly from Dumfries and Galloway Council..

The Shared Lives service can be paid for from the individual's budget, through social work, through a direct payment or from other money.

Tax Concession for Shared Lives Carers

The HMRC Tax Concession for Shared Lives Carers is given on the basis that the carer uses their own home in their work and includes the person they support in their family life.

It is a generous concession, similar to the agreement which exists for foster carers. People who provide care and support, but who do not use their own home or include someone in their family life are not entitled to the Shared Lives Tax concession.  Some Shared Lives schemes provide non-Shared Lives services (such as domiciliary care) as well as their regulated Shared Lives service. These other services may be very valuable and share some of the values of Shared Lives, but the people employed in them would not be eligible for the Shared Lives tax concession. Find out more here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/hs236.pdf

How do I apply?

Please click here to open the application form.

Please return the completed form to: -

Marion McCallum
22 Dalrymple Street
Stranraer
DG9 7ER

Or by email to marionmccallum@trfs.org.uk