Direct paymentsNorth Somerset
Direct payments in North Somerset
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 Somerset 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.
30 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of North Somerset
An hour of care in North Somerset
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 5 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £29.00
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 Somerset
North Somerset 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 PrimeCarers14.5 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 £29.00 an hour. The median published by 5 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 Somerset 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 Somerset
North Somerset Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can buy the services of a self-employed personal assistant, provided they work for more than one person, are registered with HM Revenue and Customs and hold current liability insurance, and the council strongly advises asking for evidence of a Disclosure and Barring Service check and a written contract with the hourly rate.
“If a PA is self-employed they will provide, or intend to provide, a service for more than one person. They must be registered with HM Revenue and Customs and have the appropriate liability insurance cover.”
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 Somerset
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: Separate bank account
Recipients normally open a separate bank or building society account for the direct payment, and pay any assessed client contribution into that same account.
How the money is paid: Managed account
If a bank account cannot be opened, a management company or broker can receive and hold the money and pay bills as the recipient approves.
Help with running it
Direct Payment Support Team (North Somerset Council). The council's own team helps set up the direct payment, opens a bank account, advises on employment duties and insurance, arranges DBS checks for personal assistants and reviews the arrangement after six weeks and then annually.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
The hourly direct payment rate includes the cost of a payroll service, and the council advises employers to retain a minimum of 20% of that hourly rate to cover on-costs such as payroll, liability insurance, annual leave and pensions.
Worth knowing
At audit, holding more than two weeks of direct payment money in the account will prompt the council to ask for an explanation and may lead to a request to return the surplus.
Worth knowing
A carers direct payment for an unpaid carer is normally up to a threshold of £500 per year, and a larger sum would only be allocated in exceptional circumstances.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in North Somerset
30 carers are based within about 45 minutes of North Somerset. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
30 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of North Somerset
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 SomersetStep 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 Somerset
Yes. A direct payment can buy the services of a self-employed personal assistant, provided they work for more than one person, are registered with HM Revenue and Customs and hold current liability insurance, and the council strongly advises asking for evidence of a Disclosure and Barring Service check and a written contract with the hourly rate. 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 Somerset 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 £29.00 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.
North Somerset Council's direct payments team on 01275 888 801 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.
Direct payments in nearby council areas
- Direct payments in Cardiff
- Direct payments in Newport
- Direct payments in Vale of Glamorgan
- Direct payments in Bristol
- Direct payments in Somerset
- Direct payments in South Gloucestershire
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 Somerset that is NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Council details were read from North Somerset 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 5 agencies near North Somerset that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in North Somerset
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.