Direct paymentsPembrokeshire
Direct payments in Pembrokeshire
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. Pembrokeshire 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.
Self-employed carers who invoice you for the hours they work
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Pembrokeshire
These are the rates Pembrokeshire 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home and community care from an agency, micro-enterprise or self-employed carer | £19.98 an hour | 2026/27 | pembrokeshire.gov.uk |
| Home and community care paid through managed or non managed payroll | £16.92 an hour | 2026/27 | pembrokeshire.gov.uk |
| Home and community care paid through self-managed payroll (non managed accounts only) | £18.00 an hour | 2026/27 | pembrokeshire.gov.uk |
| Home and community care from an agency, micro-enterprise or self-employed carer | £19.98 an hour | 2026/27 | pembrokeshire.gov.uk |
| Home and community care from an agency, micro-enterprise or self-employed carerOlder figure | £18.71 an hour | 2025/26 | pembrokeshire.gov.uk |
| Home and community care paid through managed or non managed payrollOlder figure | £15.83 an hour | 2025/26 | pembrokeshire.gov.uk |
| Home and community care paid through self-managed payroll (non managed accounts only)Older figure | £16.84 an hour | 2025/26 | pembrokeshire.gov.uk |
| Home and community care from an agency, micro-enterprise or self-employed carerOlder figure | £18.71 an hour | 2025/26 | pembrokeshire.gov.uk |
Choosing your carer
Paying a self-employed carer in Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. You can use a direct payment to buy support from a self-employed care or support service, also known as a micro-enterprise, and these are an exception to the rule that most organisations you use must be registered with Care Inspectorate Wales. You must have a signed contract with your chosen provider setting out the tasks they will do to meet your assessed needs.
“The exceptions are services that do not provide any personal care and self-employed care / support services (also known as ‘micro-enterprises’).”
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 Pembrokeshire
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
You have to open a separate bank or building society current account for the direct payment before the council will release any money.
How the money is paid: Managed account
If you cannot open a bank account, your care manager can refer you to the Direct Payments Team to run a managed account for you.
Provider: Pembrokeshire County Council Direct Payments Team
Help with running it
Pembrokeshire County Council Direct Payments Team. The council's Direct Payments Team provides a support service and can help with recruiting and managing a personal assistant if you need it.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
You are expected to hold a contingency fund, and if it grows beyond four weeks of your direct payment plus 10 per cent you will be asked to repay the excess to the council.
Worth knowing
People who employ their own personal assistant can ask for extra money on top of the hourly rate to cover contingency arrangements, administration and training.
Worth knowing
The direct payment hourly rate is fixed, so if an agency or provider charges more per hour you have to pay the difference yourself.
Step 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 Pembrokeshire
Yes. You can use a direct payment to buy support from a self-employed care or support service, also known as a micro-enterprise, and these are an exception to the rule that most organisations you use must be registered with Care Inspectorate Wales. You must have a signed contract with your chosen provider setting out the tasks they will do to meet your assessed needs. 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.
Pembrokeshire County Council publishes £19.98 an hour for a personal assistant and £19.98 an hour for agency care 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.
It depends on the rate the council used to work out your budget and the rate the carer charges. Divide the weekly budget by the carer's hourly rate to see how many hours it buys.
In Wales the council can allow a direct payment to pay a relative who lives in the same household where it considers that necessary to promote the person’s well-being. Where it does not, it has to rule the payment out. That is the Welsh 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.
Pembrokeshire County Council's direct payments team on 01437 775655 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.
Council details were read from Pembrokeshire 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 Pembrokeshire
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.