Direct paymentsBuckinghamshire
Direct payments in Buckinghamshire
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. Buckinghamshire 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.
56 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Buckinghamshire
An hour of care in Buckinghamshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 19 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £29.00
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 Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire 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 PrimeCarers14.5 hours
At £20.00 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 £29.00 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. Buckinghamshire 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 Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant provided they are registered with HMRC, have a Disclosure and Barring Service check, handle their own tax and National Insurance, file an annual tax return and hold public liability insurance.
“A self-employed Personal Assistant must be registered with HMRC, be DBS (Disclosure and Barring”
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 Buckinghamshire
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: Prepaid card
A direct payment can be paid onto a prepayment card that works like a debit card, with chip and PIN, but it cannot be used at cash machines and is blocked for cash withdrawals. Payments and balance requests can be made by phone or through online banking.
Provider: Prepaid Financial Services
How the money is paid: Managed account
A managed account is the other main option, where an organisation commissioned by the council holds the money and handles the financial side while the person still arranges their own care.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
Payment into a separate bank account approved by the council is only used in exceptional circumstances, as most direct payments go onto a pre-paid account.
Worth knowing
People who directly employ a personal assistant also get an annual payment towards employment costs such as insurance, national insurance, holiday, sickness and maternity pay.
Worth knowing
Direct payments are paid by bank transfer every four weeks in advance, and separate one-off payments can be made when needed.
Worth knowing
You can pay for care with your own money while you wait for the direct payment to start.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Buckinghamshire
56 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Buckinghamshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
56 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Buckinghamshire
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 BuckinghamshireStep 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 Buckinghamshire
Yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant provided they are registered with HMRC, have a Disclosure and Barring Service check, handle their own tax and National Insurance, file an annual tax return and hold public liability insurance. 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.
We could not find a rate that Buckinghamshire 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 £20.00 an hour against £29.00 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.
Buckinghamshire Council's direct payments team 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 Slough
- Direct payments in Windsor and Maidenhead
- Direct payments in Hillingdon
- Direct payments in Luton
- Direct payments in Harrow
- Direct payments in Hertfordshire
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 Buckinghamshire that is NHS Thames Valley.
Council details were read from Buckinghamshire 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 Buckinghamshire that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Buckinghamshire
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.