Direct paymentsCheshire East
Direct payments in Cheshire East
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. Cheshire East 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.
48 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Cheshire East
An hour of care in Cheshire East
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.90
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 12 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £25.49
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, from 1 April 2026
- £17.10
A budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer. Employing a personal assistant costs less an hour again, but makes your family the employer. What a weekly budget buys each way is set out below.
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Cheshire East
These are the rates Cheshire East 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheshire East Council personal assistant hourly rate for direct payments | £17.10 an hour | from 1 April 2026 | cheshireeast.gov.uk |
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 PrimeCarers12.5 hours
At £19.90 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 £25.49 an hour. The median published by 12 agencies near you. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ14.5 hours
At £17.10 an hour. The council’s rate for employing someone yourself. Your family becomes the employer, with payroll, holiday pay, pension and insurance to arrange.
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. Cheshire East 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 Cheshire East
Cheshire East Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant, but you must check and evidence their self-employed status with HMRC and provide their public liability insurance certificate, and if the status is not conclusive they must be paid through PAYE instead.
“A direct payment can be used to pay for the services of a self-employed personal assistant. However, proof of their self-employed status along with their public liability insurance certificate will need to be evidenced.”
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 Cheshire East
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
The council can load your direct payment onto a prepaid card, provided by EML, which can be used anywhere the MasterCard logo is accepted, and the council has instant access to the account to support regular audits.
Provider: EML
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
If you do not want a prepaid card, the direct payment can be paid into a separate bank account opened in your name and used only for direct payment money and your contribution.
How the money is paid: Managed account
A managed account run by a third party is available for people who do not want to handle the money themselves, and the council says there is a cost to the person for this.
Help with running it
PeoplePlus (Direct Payment Support Service). PeoplePlus is commissioned by the council to help people set up and run a direct payment, including recruiting personal assistants, arranging checks, insurance and payroll, and finding training.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
The council allows adults to hold a reserve in the direct payment account equivalent to 4 weeks of funding, and it reserves the right to reclaim funds above that amount.
Worth knowing
Money is normally paid every four weeks, but the council can also make a one-off payment where that suits the person's needs.
Worth knowing
Your direct payment records are first checked between eight and twelve weeks after the payment starts, and after that once a year.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Cheshire East
48 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Cheshire East. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
48 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Cheshire East
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 Cheshire EastIn their words
Families near Cheshire East on the carers they chose
“I found Veronica to be kind caring heart of gold. Veronica is a credit to the caring industry and a lovely person”
Roy A., 2025
About Veronika B.Carer based in Manchester · 2 reviews“She goes above and beyond to make things comfortable and easier for both her client and the family.”
Katrina R., 2026
About Camille F.Carer based in ManchesterStep 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 Cheshire East
Yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant, but you must check and evidence their self-employed status with HMRC and provide their public liability insurance certificate, and if the status is not conclusive they must be paid through PAYE instead. 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.
Cheshire East Council publishes £17.10 an hour for a personal assistant for from 1 April 2026. 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.
Usually it buys more hours. Carers near you typically charge £19.90 an hour against £25.49 for agency care, so a budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer. If your budget was worked out at the personal assistant rate of £17.10, it buys fewer.
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.
Cheshire East 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 Stoke-on-Trent
- Direct payments in Stockport
- Direct payments in Trafford
- Direct payments in Warrington
- Direct payments in Manchester
- Direct payments in Salford
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 Cheshire East that is NHS Cheshire and Merseyside.
Council details were read from Cheshire East 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 12 agencies near Cheshire East that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Cheshire East
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.