Direct paymentsPeterborough
Direct payments in Peterborough
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. Peterborough City 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.
25 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Peterborough
An hour of care in Peterborough
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 6 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £25.75
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 Peterborough
Peterborough City 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 PrimeCarers12.5 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 agency10 hours
At £25.75 an hour. The median published by 6 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. Peterborough City 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 Peterborough
Peterborough City Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. The council says it does not encourage using a direct payment to pay self-employed carers and steers people towards employing a personal assistant with help from the commissioned direct payment support service.
“We do not encourage using Direct Payments to pay self-employed carers but many people recommend the flexibility and continuity that being an employer can bring, when supported by the Direct Payment Support Service”
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 Peterborough
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: Managed account
PCVS can hold the money in a Third Party Supported Account, making payments on the person's instructions, paying staff wages and sending a monthly statement.
Provider: Peterborough Council for Voluntary Services (PCVS)
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
People who manage the money themselves need a bank account used only for the direct payment so spending can be shown against the support plan.
Help with running it
Peterborough Council for Voluntary Services (PCVS). Is contracted by the council to provide its direct payments support service. It offers a free information and advice visit and help with financial management and record keeping, banking, financial monitoring requirements, recruitment and the legal and practical side of hiring a personal assistant.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
Equipment recommended after an occupational therapist assessment is funded through a separate one-off direct payment rather than the weekly amount.
Worth knowing
There is a charge for payroll and for a PCVS managed account, and it can come out of the direct payment if the person has been assessed as needing that support.
Worth knowing
People who use the prepaid card are usually not asked to send in receipts or bank statements for monitoring.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Peterborough
25 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Peterborough. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
25 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Peterborough
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 PeterboroughStep 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 Peterborough
Yes. The council says it does not encourage using a direct payment to pay self-employed carers and steers people towards employing a personal assistant with help from the commissioned direct payment support service. 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 Peterborough City 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 £25.75 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.
Peterborough City Council's direct payments team on 01733 342 683 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 Rutland
- Direct payments in Cambridgeshire
- Direct payments in North Northamptonshire
- Direct payments in Bedford
- Direct payments in Lincolnshire
- Direct payments in West Northamptonshire
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 Peterborough that is NHS Central East.
Council details were read from Peterborough City 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 6 agencies near Peterborough that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Peterborough
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.