Direct paymentsOxfordshire
Direct payments in Oxfordshire
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. Oxfordshire 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.
22 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Oxfordshire
An hour of care in Oxfordshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £22.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 5 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £27.00
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself
- £24.00
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 Oxfordshire
These are the rates Oxfordshire County 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employed personal assistant, lower end of typical hourly range (plus employer on-costs) | £12.21 an hour | Not stated | oxfordshire.gov.uk |
| Employed personal assistant, upper end of typical hourly range (plus employer on-costs) | £13.37 an hour | Not stated | oxfordshire.gov.uk |
| Self-employed carer or support worker, lower end of typical hourly range | £22.00 an hour | Not stated | oxfordshire.gov.uk |
| Self-employed carer or support worker, upper end of typical hourly range | £24.00 an hour | Not stated | oxfordshire.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 PrimeCarers12 hours
At £22.00 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 £27.00 an hour. The median published by 5 agencies near you. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ11 hours
At £24.00 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. Oxfordshire 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 Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. A direct payment can pay a self-employed carer or support worker, provided they hold public liability insurance, work under a contract for services, handle their own tax, and you satisfy yourself that their employment status is correct using the GOV.UK check.
“must have public liability insurance and a contract for services agreement”
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 Oxfordshire
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
The council opens an account for the recipient and provides a card that can be used to buy care, set up direct debits and make one-off payments.
How the money is paid: Managed account
The council lists managed account, payroll and third party approved providers on Oxfordshire MarketPlace.
Help with running it
Direct Payment Advice Team, Oxfordshire County Council. The council's team can help you choose and buy the support you need with a direct payment.
Visit Direct Payment Advice Team, Oxfordshire County Council
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
Managed direct payments follow a main four-weekly payment cycle, with a weekly payment run every Tuesday for new individuals and payments that need to catch up with that cycle.
Worth knowing
The council keeps an approved provider list for direct payments on the Live Well Oxfordshire website.
Worth knowing
A direct payment can be spent with community micro-enterprises, which are small local organisations or sole traders offering care and support, and you can search the CME directory on the Small Good Stuff website.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Oxfordshire
22 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Oxfordshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
22 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Oxfordshire
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 OxfordshireIn their words
Families near Oxfordshire on the carers they chose
“Polina’s arrival was like the sun coming out - I felt enormous relief and it immediately took the pressure and stress off knowing that mum was in kind and safe hands.”
Ben B., 2025
About Polina K.Carer based in Oxford“She has managed to form a good relationship with our 94 year old mum, who has dementia and is quite anxious, and is one of those rare warm people who will always go the extra mile.”
Claire M., 2024
About Rosalia B.Carer based in Wallingford · 2 reviewsStep 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 Oxfordshire
Yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed carer or support worker, provided they hold public liability insurance, work under a contract for services, handle their own tax, and you satisfy yourself that their employment status is correct using the GOV.UK check. 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.
Oxfordshire County Council publishes £24.00 an hour for a personal assistant. 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 £22.00 an hour against £27.00 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.
Oxfordshire County Council's direct payments team 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 West Berkshire
- Direct payments in Buckinghamshire
- Direct payments in Reading
- Direct payments in Swindon
- Direct payments in Wokingham
- Direct payments in Milton Keynes
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 Oxfordshire that is NHS Thames Valley.
Council details were read from Oxfordshire 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 5 agencies near Oxfordshire that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Oxfordshire
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.