Understanding and interpreting supporting information

This guidance is for case managers.

Supporting information is information from:

• professionals
• the individual’s wider support network

It’s added to the information provided by the individual in their application or review form. It’s used to support an individual’s application or review. It also helps:

• build a picture of how an individual’s disability or condition impacts their life
• clarify inconsistencies

There are two types of supporting information:

• confirmation from a professional
• additional supporting information

This guidance uses the updated terms for the two types of supporting information. These are:

• confirmation from a professional (previously known as one piece of supporting information from a professional)
• additional supporting information (previously known as supporting information from the client’s wider support network)

These terms are explored in more detail in the Gathering supporting information chapter. You can read more on how to make decisions in the Principles of decision-making chapter.

In this chapter, ‘supporting information’ refers to additional supporting information which is used to establish an individual’s level of need, rather than confirmation from a professional unless otherwise stated. The term ‘the individual’ is used when referring to who the application or review is for and anyone acting on the child’s behalf.