Direct paymentsArgyll and Bute
Direct payments in Argyll and Bute
If the council has agreed to pay towards care at home, you can take the money as a direct payment and choose who provides the care. Argyll and Bute Council says a direct payment can pay a self-employed carer, with some checks first. Below is what the council publishes about its rates and rules, and what an hour of care costs near you.
Self-employed carers who invoice you for the hours they work
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Argyll and Bute
These are the rates Argyll and Bute Council publishes for direct payments, with a link to where each one appears. Your budget is set in your support plan and can differ from them.
| What the rate is for | Rate | Applies | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross hourly allowance for employing a personal assistant through a direct payment (Option 1) | £18.08 an hour | Not stated | argyll-bute.gov.uk |
Choosing your carer
Paying a self-employed carer in Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. The council recommends that personal assistants are employed by the supported person, but a self-employed carer can be paid from a direct payment if they provide written confirmation from HMRC or their Unique Tax Reference Number that the care work is approved as self-employed. They must also give an agreement or contract setting out charges and invoicing, confirm in writing that they will pay their own Tax and National Insurance, fund their own training, confirm they have appropriate insurance indemnity cover and meet the cost of a PVG check.
“It is recommended that personal assistants are employed by the supported person, however, if the supported person wishes to receive services from a self-employed carer, it is essential that the self-employed carer provides written confirmation from the HRMC”
Councils tend to ask for the same few things before a direct payment pays a self-employed carer:
- the carer's employment status for tax, which HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool on gov.uk works out in a few minutes
- proof that the carer is insured
- a DBS certificate
- an invoice for the hours worked, which becomes your record of how the money was spent
How direct payments work covers asking for one, what the money can buy and the records councils want back, and self-employed carer or employee? explains the tax question.
The council's arrangements
How direct payments are run in Argyll and Bute
What the council publishes about paying the money, getting help and getting in touch. Each card links to the page we checked it against.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
A separate bank account must be opened to receive the direct payment, and a payroll service can open it for the supported person.
Help with running it
Carr Gomm (Community Contacts). Community Contacts, run by Carr Gomm, offers free impartial and independent advice on self-directed support and practical help to set up as an employer of your own personal assistants when you choose a direct payment.
Worth knowing
Direct payments are paid every four weeks in advance and any money left in the account at the end of the financial year can be reclaimed by the partnership.
Worth knowing
Recipients may build up a contingency balance of up to two months of funding in the direct payment account to cover annual leave and staff sickness.
Worth knowing
Admin costs of managing your personal budget, such as paper, postage and printer ink, can be met from the direct payment up to £50 a year.
Step by step
Using a direct payment for a carer you choose
- Get the assessment and the support plan. The council assesses the care needed and works out the budget. Say at this stage that you want a direct payment and would like to choose your own carer.
- Check what the council allows. Ask the direct payments team whether it will pay a self-employed carer and what it needs to see from them.
- Find carers and talk to a few. Search carers near you, compare rates, experience and reviews, and message your shortlist. None of that costs anything.
- Agree the hours and rate in writing. Match them to the support plan, and keep within the budget once bank holidays are allowed for.
- Keep the records. Invoices and statements are what the council looks at when it reviews how the direct payment is being used.
Questions
Questions about direct payments in Argyll and Bute
Yes. The council recommends that personal assistants are employed by the supported person, but a self-employed carer can be paid from a direct payment if they provide written confirmation from HMRC or their Unique Tax Reference Number that the care work is approved as self-employed. They must also give an agreement or contract setting out charges and invoicing, confirm in writing that they will pay their own Tax and National Insurance, fund their own training, confirm they have appropriate insurance indemnity cover and meet the cost of a PVG check. The checks a council asks for are usually the carer's employment status for tax, their insurance and their DBS certificate. Carers on PrimeCarers are self-employed, hold an enhanced DBS and are insured while they work, and they invoice for the hours worked.
Argyll and Bute Council publishes £18.08 an hour for a personal assistant. The full list, with links to where the council says so, is on this page. Your own budget is set in your support plan and can differ, for example if your needs include nights or two carers.
It depends on the rate the council used to work out your budget and the rate the carer charges. Divide the weekly budget by the carer's hourly rate to see how many hours it buys.
In Scotland a family member can be paid where the council, the person and the family member all agree, the family member can do the work, and one of the reasons in the regulations applies, such as a limited choice of providers locally, or support being needed at times when nobody else is available. That is the self-directed support regulations rather than this council's own rule, so ask the direct payments team how it applies it. Can my mum pay me to care for her? covers the other routes.
Only if you employ somebody. Paying a self-employed carer or an agency does not make anyone an employer. Taking on a personal assistant does, which brings payroll, holiday pay, sick pay, pension enrolment and employer's liability insurance. HMRC's Check Employment Status for Tax tool on gov.uk tells you which applies.
Argyll and Bute Council's direct payments team on 01546 605517. If you do not have a social worker or care assessment yet, start with a needs assessment from adult social care.
Council details were read from Argyll and Bute Council's published pages and checked against them on 17 September 2026. Councils change their rates each April, so check the linked page before relying on a figure. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Argyll and Bute
See self-employed carers near you with their hourly rates, experience and reviews, and talk to the ones you like for free. Check with the council what your direct payment can pay for before you book.