Direct paymentsNorfolk
Direct payments in Norfolk
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. Norfolk 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.
25 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Norfolk
An hour of care in Norfolk
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- The council’s agency rateWhat the council allows for agency care, 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027
- £21.03
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027
- £15.55
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 Norfolk
These are the rates Norfolk 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agency rate | £21.03 an hour | 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | norfolk.gov.uk |
| Directly employed personal assistant, day rate (8am to 10pm) | £12.89 an hour | 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | norfolk.gov.uk |
| Directly employed personal assistant, day rate including 20.67% employer on costs credited to the account | £15.55 an hour | 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | norfolk.gov.uk |
| PA hourly negotiated waking hours, night rate (10pm to 8am) | £12.71 an hour | 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | norfolk.gov.uk |
| Waking hours night rate including 20.67% employer on costs credited to the account | £15.34 an hour | 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | norfolk.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 PrimeCarers10.5 hours
At £20.00 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.
- An agency, at the council’s rate9.5 hours
At £21.03 an hour. What the council allows for an hour of agency care. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ13.5 hours
At £15.55 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. Norfolk 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 Norfolk
Norfolk County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. You can use a self-employed personal assistant. The council recommends asking them for a copy of their public liability insurance, enhanced DBS and HMRC UTR number, and making sure they have completed the HMRC status indicator tool correctly, as you may be responsible for any tax or National Insurance due if their status is wrong.
“We would recommend that you ask the self-employed workers for a copy of their Public Liability insurance, enhanced DBS, and a copy of their HMRC UTR number to confirm their self-employment status.”
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 Norfolk
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 way of paying a direct payment is into a prepaid bank account that it opens for you.
How the money is paid: Managed account
With a supported bank account the council's team makes the payments from your prepaid account when you ask them to, and also runs payroll and pays invoices.
Help with running it
The Direct Payment Support Service (DPSS) helps people who receive a direct payment with information, advice and guidance, finding a personal assistant carer, employment support, personal assistant carer training and payment services, including payroll and invoicing support.
Worth knowing
The council will arrange and pay for a DBS check on someone you are recruiting as a personal assistant.
Worth knowing
Direct payment customers can use the ukcil.com recruitment platform free of charge, with an account set up by the council's employment team.
Worth knowing
Your care plan may include money for personal assistant expenses such as mileage, given as an example of 55p per mile plus 5p per passenger.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Norfolk
25 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Norfolk. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
25 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Norfolk
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 NorfolkStep 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 Norfolk
Yes. You can use a self-employed personal assistant. The council recommends asking them for a copy of their public liability insurance, enhanced DBS and HMRC UTR number, and making sure they have completed the HMRC status indicator tool correctly, as you may be responsible for any tax or National Insurance due if their status is wrong. 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.
Norfolk County Council publishes £15.55 an hour for a personal assistant and £21.03 an hour for agency care for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. 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 £20.00 an hour against £21.03 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 £15.55, 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.
Norfolk County Council's direct payments team on 01603 223392. 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 Suffolk
- Direct payments in Cambridgeshire
- Direct payments in Peterborough
- Direct payments in Essex
- Direct payments in Lincolnshire
- Direct payments in Rutland
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 Norfolk that is NHS Norfolk and Suffolk.
Council details were read from Norfolk 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 Norfolk
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.