Direct paymentsSandwell
Direct payments in Sandwell
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. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough 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.
274 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Sandwell
An hour of care in Sandwell
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.20
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 21 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £24.05
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 Sandwell
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough 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 £19.20 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 £24.05 an hour. The median published by 21 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. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough 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 Sandwell
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. Paying a self-employed personal assistant is not normally permitted and needs a Service Manager to agree that there is no alternative, and the council advises checking that the person is registered as self-employed with a Unique Tax reference number and invoices for their work.
“unless the Council agrees that there are no alternative options – this decision must be made by a Service Manager”
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 Sandwell
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 pays your personal budget directly to you onto a pre-paid card that you can use to pay for your support.
How the money is paid: Managed account
Where a person cannot manage the money themselves, the council may provide a managed account.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
The council's personal assistant pages describe paying wages and employment costs from a separate direct payment bank account that the council pays into.
Help with running it
Ideal for All. Is the council's managed service provider and can help direct payment recipients and authorised people with obtaining DBS checks on the people they pay.
Worth knowing
Direct payment accounts are audited, with the first audit at around six months after the first payment and then again after about one year.
Worth knowing
Money is paid four weeks ahead and recipients should not normally hold more than six weeks of funding in reserve.
Worth knowing
Taking cash out of the direct payment account is expected to be kept to a minimum and any cash withdrawals need extra records.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Sandwell
274 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Sandwell. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
274 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Sandwell
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 SandwellStep 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 Sandwell
Yes. Paying a self-employed personal assistant is not normally permitted and needs a Service Manager to agree that there is no alternative, and the council advises checking that the person is registered as self-employed with a Unique Tax reference number and invoices for their work. 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 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough 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 £19.20 an hour against £24.05 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.
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council's direct payments team on 0121 569 74 74 (option 4) 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 Dudley
- Direct payments in Birmingham
- Direct payments in Walsall
- Direct payments in Wolverhampton
- Direct payments in Solihull
- Direct payments in Worcestershire
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 Sandwell that is NHS Black Country.
Council details were read from Sandwell Metropolitan Borough 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 21 agencies near Sandwell that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Sandwell
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.