Direct paymentsHalton
Direct payments in Halton
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. Halton Borough 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.
72 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Halton
An hour of care in Halton
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 7 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £27.50
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 Halton
Halton Borough 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 hours
At £19.00 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 £27.50 an hour. The median published by 7 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. Halton Borough 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 Halton
Halton Borough Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A personal assistant can be self-employed, but it is your responsibility to correctly determine the employment status of your workers, that is whether they are employed by you or self-employed.
“It is your responsibility to correctly determine the employment status of your workers – that is, whether they are employed by you or self-employed.”
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 Halton
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 prepaid card loaded in advance every four weeks, which can be used for electronic, online and telephone transactions.
How the money is paid: Managed account
A third party managed account organisation holds the money, pays invoices and wages and deals with HMRC, while the recipient stays accountable for proper use of the payment.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
A self managed direct payment is paid four weekly into a bank account that must be kept separate from personal money and used only for the direct payment.
Help with running it
Halton Borough Council Direct Payments Team. The council's Direct Payments Team is available to help people who receive a direct payment.
Worth knowing
A direct payment cannot normally be used to pay a spouse, family member or partner who lives in the same household, unless the social worker has agreed to it because of exceptional circumstances.
Worth knowing
The council can suspend a direct payment if requested records are not sent in or if the terms of the Service User Agreement are broken.
Worth knowing
Halton Disability Partnership, which supports local direct payment recipients, states that a direct payment budget can include money towards the cost of a support agency to help manage the payment.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Halton
72 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Halton. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
72 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Halton
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 HaltonIn their words
Families near Halton on the carers they chose
“I found Any to be kind caring with heart of gold. Nothing was too much trouble for Amy.”
Roy A., 2024
About Amy-Jayne F.Carer based in Salford · 2 reviews“He developed a close affinity with Terence, spending time talking with him before he retired to bed and looking after his needs during the night.”
John P., 2026
About Rodrigo Javier B.Carer based in Wigan“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 Manchester“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 Halton
Yes. A personal assistant can be self-employed, but it is your responsibility to correctly determine the employment status of your workers, that is whether they are employed by you or self-employed. 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 Halton Borough 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 £19.00 an hour against £27.50 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.
Start with Halton Borough Council's adult social care team, whose direct payments page has the current details. If you do not have a care assessment yet, ask for a needs assessment first.
Direct payments in nearby council areas
- Direct payments in Knowsley
- Direct payments in St Helens
- Direct payments in Warrington
- Direct payments in Cheshire West and Chester
- Direct payments in Liverpool
- Direct payments in Wigan
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 Halton that is NHS Cheshire and Merseyside.
Council details were read from Halton Borough 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 Halton that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Halton
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.