Direct paymentsCheshire West and Chester
Direct payments in Cheshire West and Chester
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 West and Chester 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.
29 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Cheshire West and Chester
An hour of care in Cheshire West and Chester
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.90
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 7 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £28.50
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, 2025-26
- £18.98
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 West and Chester
These are the rates Cheshire West and Chester 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micro Enterprise Direct Payment rate (provider registered with Small Good Stuff) | £22.02 an hour | 2025-26 | cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk |
| Standard Direct Payment rate (applies to employing a personal assistant, a care agency or other support) | £18.98 an hour | 2025-26 | cheshirewestandchester.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 PrimeCarers14 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 £28.50 an hour. The median published by 7 agencies near you. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ15 hours
At £18.98 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 West and Chester 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 West and Chester
Cheshire West and Chester Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. If you use a self-employed personal assistant, you will not be the employer and do not need to meet the employer's responsibilities, apart from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
“they will not be the employer and do not need to meet the employer’s responsibilities apart from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.”
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 West and Chester
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's preferred method is an allpay prepayment card account, which is automatically reloaded with your direct payment every four weeks and cannot be used to withdraw cash.
Provider: allpay Ltd
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
The money can instead be paid into a separate bank account used only for your care payments, and you must also pay your assessed contribution into it.
How the money is paid: Managed account
An approved bank can manage the account for you, and you stay in control of your care.
Help with running it
If you are referred to the Direct Payment Service, provided by Barrie Bookkeeping and Payroll Solutions Ltd, they will help you at every step. You can contact them on 01244 268595 or at [email protected].
The direct payments team
Phone: 0151 356 6923 or 01244 977661
Email: [email protected]
Worth knowing
At the start of the agreement the council makes a one-off contingency payment worth two weeks of the direct payment, for use in emergencies such as staff sickness, but this is not paid for carers' payments, respite payments or micro-enterprise users.
Worth knowing
The council will make a one-off payment of £250.00 to pay for start-up costs.
Worth knowing
Direct payments are reviewed at six weeks, six months and then every 12 months, although this can vary with individual need.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Cheshire West and Chester
29 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Cheshire West and Chester. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
29 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Cheshire West and Chester
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 West and ChesterIn their words
Families near Cheshire West and Chester on the carers they chose
“She quickly formed rapport with both the patient and her friends, guiding them through a tender time.”
Melanie M., 2026
About Tsitsi H.Carer based in Wrexham“It was clear that she genuinely cared and her warm approach really helped put our minds at ease.”
Sara K., 2025
About Trudi M.Carer based in BirkenheadStep 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 West and Chester
Yes. If you use a self-employed personal assistant, you will not be the employer and do not need to meet the employer's responsibilities, apart from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) 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.
Cheshire West and Chester Council publishes £18.98 an hour for a personal assistant for 2025-26. 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 £28.50 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.
Cheshire West and Chester Council's direct payments team on 0151 356 6923 or 01244 977661 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 Halton
- Direct payments in Knowsley
- Direct payments in Liverpool
- Direct payments in Warrington
- Direct payments in Wirral
- Direct payments in St Helens
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 West and Chester that is NHS Cheshire and Merseyside.
Council details were read from Cheshire West and Chester 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 7 agencies near Cheshire West and Chester that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Cheshire West and Chester
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.