Direct paymentsNorth Northamptonshire
Direct payments in North Northamptonshire
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. North Northamptonshire 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.
50 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of North Northamptonshire
An hour of care in North Northamptonshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 9 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £23.00
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 North Northamptonshire
North Northamptonshire 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 PrimeCarers11.5 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.
- A local home care agency10 hours
At £23.00 an hour. The median published by 9 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. North Northamptonshire 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 North Northamptonshire
North Northamptonshire Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can pay a self-employed worker, but the council expects evidence of that person's self-employed status and says the recipient carries the risk and responsibility if HMRC treats the worker as employed.
“the liability for any claim from HMRC or the worker themselves will lie with them and they will have the ongoing responsibility for ensuring that the worker’s self-employed status is checked and confirmed”
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 North Northamptonshire
What the council publishes about paying the money, getting help and getting in touch. Each card links to the page we checked it against.
What the scheme is called
In North Northamptonshire you will see it called the Holding Account.
How the money is paid: Prepaid card
The council's preferred option is a direct payment prepaid card that works like a debit card and can be used online or by phone, with the council able to see spending directly.
How the money is paid: Managed account
The alternative is a managed account, known locally as a Holding Account, which the council's PBSS team runs for the person and uses to pay wages and providers.
Provider: Personal Budget Support Service (PBSS)
Help with running it
The council's Personal Budget Support Service (PBSS) gives support, information and advice to employers, and delivers a free payroll and pension service.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
The council expects the direct payment account to hold a contingency of around four weeks of funding.
Worth knowing
Start-up costs such as the first year of employer insurance, recruitment advertising and DBS fees are paid directly by the council's PBSS team rather than from the new direct payment.
Worth knowing
When the National Minimum Wage rises the funding is recalculated automatically only for employers who use PBSS for payroll, so anyone using another payroll provider has to ask their social care team for the uplift.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in North Northamptonshire
50 carers are based within about 45 minutes of North Northamptonshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
50 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of North Northamptonshire
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 North NorthamptonshireIn their words
Families near North Northamptonshire on the carers they chose
“I'm so happy that we have Esther on our little team and I'd recommend her to anyone looking for someone to help looking after a loved one.”
Damien H., 2025
About Esther M.Carer based in Kettering · 2 reviews“She is so caring, compassionate and empathic towards my mum. It has made a huge difference both for my mum and for the wider family.”
Damien H., 2024
About Catarina F.Carer based in KetteringStep 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 North Northamptonshire
Yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed worker, but the council expects evidence of that person's self-employed status and says the recipient carries the risk and responsibility if HMRC treats the worker as 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 North Northamptonshire 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 £20.00 an hour against £23.00 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 North Northamptonshire 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 West Northamptonshire
- Direct payments in Bedford
- Direct payments in Rutland
- Direct payments in Peterborough
- Direct payments in Milton Keynes
- Direct payments in Central Bedfordshire
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 North Northamptonshire that is NHS Northamptonshire.
Council details were read from North Northamptonshire 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 9 agencies near North Northamptonshire that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in North Northamptonshire
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.