Welcome to the A4e Independent Living Support Service. We provide a comprehensive advice and support service to people in East Sussex who wish to take more control of their personal assistance needs. We work closely with East Sussex County Council's Adult Social Care and Children & Families Service to support people to live independently.

We are based in Eastbourne but work throughout the county from Saltdean and Wivelsfield in the west, Camber and Northiam in the east and Forest Row in the north.

We support people right through the process of moving onto Direct Payments, from discussing the different options, helping you recruit the personal assistants you need, setting you up as an employer (if that is the option you choose), helping you to manage your workers and of course assisting you when it comes to paying them. You will work closely with one of our Independent Living Advisors who will guide you through the whole process. And we will stay in contact and be available should you need us at any time.

If you wish to use your Direct Payments to pay a Home Care Agency we can advise you on the best way to do this, how to select an agency and give advice if you are having any problems with the service from the Agency.
For some people we can offer a Managed Account service. This is where your Direct Payments is paid direct to us and we hold it in an account on your behalf. You still have control of the money and can request payments etc but you won't have to actually manage the payments or complete Return Forms for the Council as we will do this on your behalf.

For people who choose to recruit and employ their own Personal Assistants, we offer a Payroll Service which offers a comprehensive service from setting up new employers with HM Revenue and Customs to submitting all the necessary documentation to HMRC at the end of each tax year. All you have to do is to tell us the hours which your workers have worked and we will let you know how much to pay your workers. We calculate all the tax and National Insurance deductions you need to make as well as any Statutory Sick, Maternity or Paternity pay which you need to pay. In addition, we can keep records of all your employees’ entitlements to annual leave.

We are currently working closely with East Sussex County Council on the introduction of Personal Budgets. Personal Budgets are where people who need community care services are allocated a sum of money and can then choose how that money is spent to support them to live independently in the community. Once the Personal Budget has been agreed, if the individual wants to take direct control of the money they can receive it as a Direct Payment and use it to buy in services or to employ people. Alternatively, they may decide not to have the added responsibility of managing the budget but instead to ask the local authority or a third party such as a broker to manage it on their behalf.

Meet the A4e Team in East Sussex

We have five Independent Living Advisors on the team (Brett, Ellen, Jenny, Lizzie and Maggie) who between them have over 25 years of experience helping people to live independently. Three of the Advisors are disabled people who use Direct Payments so can give that first hand knowledge of the way Direct Payments have changed their lives.

Our Payroll service is run by Eddie, Margaret & Jack who between them support over 420 employers, calculating the wages of over 1200 personal Assistants.

Supporting us in our busy office is Cathy, Karen & Penny who help with the administrative side of things and are often the people who you chat to first when you call us.

Finally there's me, Dan, who manages the service. I've been involved with Direct Payments since 1996 when the legislation was changed to enable people to take control over the support they need. We have a friendly but busy office and look forward to being able to help you achieve the level of independence you want.

Getting Started

If you are not currently receiving Direct Payments but are interested in exploring the opportunities which they would give you then do contact us. We can then send you a copy of our Initial Information Booklet which will explain more about Direct Payments.

If you haven’t yet had an assessment by East Sussex County Council then we can put you in contact with the relevant team within the Council. Alternatively you can contact them directly on 0345 60 80 191 or email them on socialcaredirect@eastsussex.gov.uk. If you query is regarding a disabled child you need to contact them ESCC on 01323 762024. ESCC has more information about Direct Payments on their website  http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/socialcare/payingforservices/directpayments/

Contact us

A4e Charter House
Courtlands Road
Eastbourne
BN22 8UY

Telephone 01323 414674
Fax 01323 414673
Email ilss@a4e.co.uk

We are open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. If you wish to call in, please give us a call first to make sure there is someone available who will be able to help you