Direct paymentsFlintshire
Direct payments in Flintshire
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. Flintshire County 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.
16 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Flintshire
An hour of care in Flintshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.90
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, 01 April 2025
- £18.43
Employing a personal assistant costs less an hour, but makes your family the employer, with payroll and insurance to arrange. The detail is below.
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Flintshire
These are the rates Flintshire County 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate paid into the direct payment account when you employ a personal assistant (excluding sleep ins) | £18.43 an hour | 01 April 2025 | flintshire.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 personal assistant rate. Move it to match the budget in your support plan.
- A self-employed carer on PrimeCarers9 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 personal assistant you employ9.5 hours
At £18.43 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. Flintshire County 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 Flintshire
Flintshire County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. The council allows a direct payment to buy support from self-employed micro-carers, but you must first satisfy yourself that the person would not in fact be treated as your employee.
“so before you choose to use anyone claiming to be self-employed you must satisfy yourself that they would not be deemed as employed if anything went wrong”
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 Flintshire
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 has purchased a simple to use card account system, developed with a company called EML, to help people manage the money in their direct payment.
Provider: EML (previously Prepaid Financial Services)
Help with running it
The Flintshire Direct Payments Support Service is an in-house specialist team that works alongside people who are considering a direct payment or already using one, helping them gain the knowledge and confidence to manage their arrangements.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
The direct payment is paid into the card account every four weeks, and the council can freeze the account or pay extra money in when needed.
Worth knowing
Accounts are audited regularly during the first six months, with later monitoring reviews every three, six or twelve months depending on the amount involved and other risks.
Worth knowing
Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to choose to employ a family member you live with as your personal assistant.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Flintshire
16 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Flintshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
16 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Flintshire
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 FlintshireIn their words
Families near Flintshire 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 Flintshire
Yes. The council allows a direct payment to buy support from self-employed micro-carers, but you must first satisfy yourself that the person would not in fact be treated as your employee. 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.
Flintshire County Council publishes £18.43 an hour for a personal assistant for 01 April 2025. 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.
Not always hour for hour. Carers near you typically charge £19.90 an hour, above the council's personal assistant rate of £18.43, so the same budget buys fewer hours than employing someone would. Some families choose that anyway because nobody becomes an employer. You can also pay for extra hours yourself.
In Wales the council can allow a direct payment to pay a relative who lives in the same household where it considers that necessary to promote the person’s well-being. Where it does not, it has to rule the payment out. That is the Welsh 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.
Flintshire County Council's direct payments team on 01352 701100 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.
Council details were read from Flintshire County 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 Flintshire
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.