Direct paymentsNottinghamshire
Direct payments in Nottinghamshire
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. Nottinghamshire 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.
47 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Nottinghamshire
An hour of care in Nottinghamshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 14 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £28.22
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 Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire 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.
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 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 agency9.5 hours
At £28.22 an hour. The median published by 14 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. Nottinghamshire 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 Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant only if evidence of genuine self-employed status is provided, and the recipient or the personal assistant must complete the HMRC employment status tool for the specific job role.
“In order to demonstrate the employment status for tax purposes of the proposed working relationship, the Direct Payment recipient or Personal Assistant must complete the HMRC Employment Status Indicator (ESI) Tool.”
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 Nottinghamshire
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
A pre-paid debit card account is the council's preferred way of managing a direct payment and should be considered when the payment is set up or reviewed.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
A traditional direct payment paid into a bank account remains available for anyone who asks for it and for whom it is suitable.
Worth knowing
The council will reclaim money left in a direct payment account above the agreed limit, which is currently six weeks of direct payment funding.
Worth knowing
Legitimate costs that cannot be covered by the money held in the direct payment account are usually met by a separate one-off payment approved by a team manager.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Nottinghamshire
47 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Nottinghamshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
47 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Nottinghamshire
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 NottinghamshireIn their words
Families near Nottinghamshire on the carers they chose
“Veronica has been an excellent live-in carer, bringing dedication, sound experience and gentle consideration to her role with my wife.”
Martin B., 2025
About Veronica D.Carer based in Nottingham · 2 reviews“Ernest is an amazing professional carer who delivers care from the heart.”
Melanie B., 2024
About Ernest C.Carer based in ChesterfieldStep 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 Nottinghamshire
Yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed personal assistant only if evidence of genuine self-employed status is provided, and the recipient or the personal assistant must complete the HMRC employment status tool for the specific job role. 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 Nottinghamshire 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.
Usually it buys more hours. Carers near you typically charge £20.00 an hour against £28.22 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 Nottinghamshire County 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 Nottingham
- Direct payments in Derbyshire
- Direct payments in Derby
- Direct payments in Rotherham
- Direct payments in Sheffield
- Direct payments in Doncaster
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 Nottinghamshire that is NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
Council details were read from Nottinghamshire 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. The local agency figure is the median of 14 agencies near Nottinghamshire that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Nottinghamshire
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.