Word count:: 15,066

Placing disabled people in control of financial resources offered a radical move away from the traditional service-led, rather than user-led, norms of social care services. This was as a result of years of campaigning by disabled people. However, the take-up of direct payments remains low both in the provision of direct payments for personal care support as well as for other aspects of social care such as the provision of daily living equipment. Cambridgeshire’s policy for offering direct payments for equipment was implemented in 2006 but since then only twelve service users have chosen to have a direct payment in order to purchase equipment themselves, rather than having it provided by the statutory community equipment service. The focus of this study is on the reasons for this lack of take-up both from the point of view of disabled people, as well as the occupational therapy staff who are effectively the gatekeepers of this resource. The study provides a background to the use of direct payments and the importance of equipment provision and goes on to link the two by presenting a snapshot of the current situation by means of two small-scale pieces of fieldwork