Direct paymentsNorth Yorkshire
Direct payments in North Yorkshire
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. A direct payment can usually pay a self-employed carer, on the council's conditions. Below is what the council publishes about its rates and rules, and what an hour of care costs near you.
14 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of North Yorkshire
An hour of care in North Yorkshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £21.50
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 8 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £31.35
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, 2026/27
- £16.29
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 North Yorkshire
These are the rates North Yorkshire 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard personal assistant rate under the pilot | £15.62 an hour | 2026/27 | edemocracy.northyorks.gov.uk |
| Enhanced personal assistant rate under the pilot | £17.70 an hour | 2026/27 | edemocracy.northyorks.gov.uk |
| Standard personal assistant rate | £13.79 an hour | 2026/27 | edemocracy.northyorks.gov.uk |
| Enhanced personal assistant rate | £16.29 an hour | 2026/27 | edemocracy.northyorks.gov.uk |
| Standard personal assistant rateOlder figure | £13.25 an hour | 2025/26 | edemocracy.northyorks.gov.uk |
| Enhanced personal assistant rateOlder figure | £15.65 an hour | 2025/26 | edemocracy.northyorks.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 PrimeCarers14.5 hours
At £21.50 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 £31.35 an hour. The median published by 8 agencies near you. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ19 hours
At £16.29 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. North Yorkshire 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 Yorkshire
Direct payments in North Yorkshire work under the Care Act 2014. A direct payment can usually pay a self-employed carer your family has chosen, as well as a personal assistant you employ or an agency. We could not find North Yorkshire Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what it wants to see before anyone starts.
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 Yorkshire
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
The money is paid into a separate bank account held in your own name and used only for your care, and you can manage that account yourself.
How the money is paid: Managed account
If you would rather not run the account yourself, the council will help you set up a managed bank account.
Worth knowing
If you buy care with your direct payment from a provider on the council's Approved Provider List, the provider has to agree any price rise with you and it cannot go above the equivalent Approved Provider List rate.
Worth knowing
You cannot normally use the direct payment to employ a relative who lives in your household unless the council agrees in writing first.
Worth knowing
You can take as long as you need to decide whether to accept a direct payment, and the council will put interim services in place while you think about it.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in North Yorkshire
14 carers are based within about 45 minutes of North Yorkshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
14 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of North Yorkshire
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 YorkshireStep 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 Yorkshire
Usually, yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed carer your family has chosen, employ a personal assistant, or buy agency hours. We could not find North Yorkshire Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what checks it wants before anyone starts.
North Yorkshire Council publishes £16.29 an hour for a personal assistant for 2026/27. 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 £21.50 an hour against £31.35 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 £16.29, 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.
North Yorkshire Council's direct payments team on 0300 131 2131. 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 York
- Direct payments in Leeds
- Direct payments in Middlesbrough
- Direct payments in Wakefield
- Direct payments in Bradford
- Direct payments in Darlington
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 Yorkshire that is mostly NHS Humber and North Yorkshire and partly NHS West Yorkshire.
Council details were read from North Yorkshire 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 8 agencies near North Yorkshire that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in North Yorkshire
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.