Direct paymentsNorthumberland
Direct payments in Northumberland
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. Northumberland 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.
17 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Northumberland
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Northumberland
Northumberland County 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.
Choosing your carer
Paying a self-employed carer in Northumberland
Northumberland County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can be used to pay a self-employed personal assistant, but they must have their own insurance cover and you should request proof of it before they start.
“Self-employed personal assistants must have their own cover, and you should request proof before they start.”
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 Northumberland
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
A separate bank account for the direct payment may be needed, although this is not required where the only spending is on paying personal assistants through a payroll company.
How the money is paid: Other arrangement
The council can pay the money either into a nominated bank account or to a payroll company chosen by the person receiving the direct payment.
The direct payments team
Phone: 01670 629 090 or 01670 629 094
Email: [email protected]
Worth knowing
Spending information is normally requested every three months, with a full audit of the direct payment once a year.
Worth knowing
The direct payments team makes contact about six weeks after the arrangement starts to check that it is working.
Worth knowing
If an audit shows more money is being held than is likely to be needed, the surplus is usually taken off the next payment.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Northumberland
17 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Northumberland. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
17 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Northumberland
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 NorthumberlandStep 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 Northumberland
Yes. A direct payment can be used to pay a self-employed personal assistant, but they must have their own insurance cover and you should request proof of it before they start. 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 Northumberland County 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.
It depends on the rate the council used. Carers near you typically charge £19.60 an hour. Divide your weekly budget by that to see the hours it buys, and remember that bank holidays are charged at one and a half times the usual rate.
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.
Northumberland County Council's direct payments team on 01670 629 090 or 01670 629 094 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 Newcastle upon Tyne
- Direct payments in Gateshead
- Direct payments in South Tyneside
- Direct payments in Sunderland
- Direct payments in County Durham
- Direct payments in Hartlepool
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 Northumberland that is NHS North East and North Cumbria.
Council details were read from Northumberland 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 Northumberland
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.