Direct paymentsDumfries and Galloway
Direct payments in Dumfries and Galloway
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.
10 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Dumfries and Galloway
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway 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.
Choosing your carer
Paying a self-employed carer in Dumfries and Galloway
Direct payments in Dumfries and Galloway work under the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013, where a direct payment is Option 1. 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 Dumfries and Galloway 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 Dumfries and Galloway
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
Direct payment money can be held on a prepaid card account run by Prepaid Financial Services.
Provider: Prepaid Financial Services (PFS)
Help with running it
If you employ a personal assistant, you can contact Capability Scotland for support on your roles and responsibilities as an employer. They receive funding from the Scottish Government to provide this support service within Dumfries and Galloway.
Worth knowing
The council pays direct payments monthly and in advance of the support being provided.
Worth knowing
If a personal assistant needs training, the council signposts providers and may add money to the budget to pay for it.
Worth knowing
You will be in charge of the arrangements, although you can have support from family or friends, or pay for help from an appropriate agency or an approved payroll provider.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Dumfries and Galloway
10 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Dumfries and Galloway. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
10 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Dumfries and Galloway
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 Dumfries and GallowayStep 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 Dumfries and Galloway
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 Dumfries and Galloway 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 Dumfries and Galloway 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.
It depends on the rate the council used. Carers near you typically charge £20.45 an hour. Divide your weekly budget by that to see the hours it buys, and remember that bank holidays are charged at one and a half times the usual rate.
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.
Dumfries and Galloway Council's direct payments team on 030 33 33 3001. 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 Dumfries and Galloway 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 Dumfries and Galloway
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.