Direct paymentsBarnsley
Direct payments in Barnsley
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. A direct payment can usually pay a self-employed carer, on the council's conditions. Below is what the council publishes about its rates and rules, and what an hour of care costs near you.
98 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Barnsley
An hour of care in Barnsley
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.20
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 19 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £25.50
A budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer. What a weekly budget buys each way is set out below.
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Barnsley
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council does not publish its direct payment rates anywhere we could find. Your budget is set in your support plan, from the cost of meeting your eligible needs less anything you are assessed to pay yourself. Ask the council which hourly rate it used, because that decides how many hours the budget buys.
Hours for the money
What a weekly budget buys
A direct payment is a sum of money, so the useful comparison is how many hours of care it pays for. Move the slider to your own weekly budget.
Starts at ten hours a week at the agency rate. Move it to match the budget in your support plan.
- A self-employed carer on PrimeCarers13 hours
At £19.20 an hour. The typical rate near you, our fee included. The carer invoices for the hours, and that invoice is your record for the council.
- A local home care agency10 hours
At £25.50 an hour. The median published by 19 agencies near you. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
Hours are rounded down to the half hour. Bank holidays are charged at one and a half times a carer's rate and Christmas Day at twice, so leave room in the budget for them. Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council decides what your direct payment can be spent on, and your support plan is the final word.
Choosing your carer
Paying a self-employed carer in Barnsley
Direct payments in Barnsley work under the Care Act 2014. A direct payment can usually pay a self-employed carer your family has chosen, as well as a personal assistant you employ or an agency. We could not find Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what it wants to see before anyone starts.
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 Barnsley
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
You need to set up a separate designated bank account, used solely for the council to pay the direct payment into every four weeks.
How the money is paid: Managed account
A Supported Managed Account is held in the person's name but a third-party company handles the money, and the council says this carries an extra cost.
Provider: Penderels or Paypacket
Help with running it
If you have a Supported Managed Account, the council currently uses Penderels or Paypacket to manage the financial side of your direct payment, including paying invoices and timesheets for your care services. This comes at an extra cost, and you keep your own responsibilities such as being an employer if you hire staff.
Worth knowing
The council's Self-Directed Support team, rather than the family, arranges the Disclosure and Barring Service check for a personal assistant.
Worth knowing
The cost of employers' liability insurance, which you must have before a personal assistant starts work, is built into the personal budget.
Worth knowing
The council will carry out an audit of the direct payment around six months after the initial review.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Barnsley
98 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Barnsley. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
98 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Barnsley
Filter by what they charge, who drives, who does nights, and who speaks your language, then message the ones you like. Free, and nothing is booked until you say so.
See private carers for BarnsleyIn their words
Families near Barnsley on the carers they chose
“She was very professional and thorou and went above and beyond to support not just my auntie but us as a family”
Rebecca T., 2023
About Leanne J.Carer based in Doncaster · 5 reviews“Irene is extremely personable and very caring, while at the same time being very practical, she pays attention to detail and supports, encourages and engages with my partner very well.”
Tish M., 2024
About Irene N.Carer based in Sheffield · 3 reviews“Her attentiveness for Jon with MND was out of this world. She made him feel so comfortable.”
James P., 2025
About Eve T.Carer based in Leeds · 2 reviews“She was quickly able to identify Margaret’s needs and preferred way of doing things and the two were soon laughing and singing together!”
Linda C., 2026
About Wendy O.Carer based in Sheffield · 2 reviewsStep 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 Barnsley
Usually, yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed carer your family has chosen, employ a personal assistant, or buy agency hours. We could not find Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what checks it wants before anyone starts.
We could not find a rate that Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council publishes. The amount is set in your support plan, worked out from the cost of meeting your eligible needs, less anything the financial assessment says you pay yourself. Ask the council how it calculated the hourly figure, because that decides how many hours the budget buys.
Usually it buys more hours. Carers near you typically charge £19.20 an hour against £25.50 for agency care, so a budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer.
In England a direct payment cannot normally pay the person’s husband, wife or partner, or a close relative who lives in the same household, unless the council considers it necessary. That is the direct payments 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.
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council's direct payments team on 01226 772425 or at [email protected]. If you do not have a social worker or care assessment yet, start with a needs assessment from adult social care.
Direct payments in nearby council areas
- Direct payments in Wakefield
- Direct payments in Rotherham
- Direct payments in Sheffield
- Direct payments in Doncaster
- Direct payments in Kirklees
- Direct payments in Leeds
If the care needed is mainly about health, the NHS may pay for all of it through Continuing Healthcare, decided by the NHS rather than the council. In Barnsley that is NHS South Yorkshire.
Council details were read from Barnsley Metropolitan Borough 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. The local agency figure is the median of 19 agencies near Barnsley that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Barnsley
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.