Direct paymentsSolihull
Direct payments in Solihull
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. A direct payment can usually pay a self-employed carer, on the council's conditions. Below is what the council publishes about its rates and rules, and what an hour of care costs near you.
206 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Solihull
An hour of care in Solihull
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.50
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 28 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £26.25
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, 2026/27
- £18.52
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 Solihull
These are the rates Solihull Metropolitan Borough 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate for a personal assistant paid through a direct payment | £18.52 an hour | 2026/27 | solihull.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 PrimeCarers13 hours
At £19.50 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 £26.25 an hour. The median published by 28 agencies near you. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ14 hours
At £18.52 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. Solihull 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 Solihull
Direct payments in Solihull work under the Care Act 2014. A direct payment can usually pay a self-employed carer your family has chosen, as well as a personal assistant you employ or an agency. We could not find Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what it wants to see before anyone starts.
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 Solihull
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 can pay the direct payment onto a prepaid card that it provides, which removes the need for a separate bank account or bank statements.
How the money is paid: Managed account
If a prepaid card does not suit the person, the council may pay the money to a third party who runs a managed account and makes the agreed payments for care.
Help with running it
Age UK Solihull Direct Payments Information and Advice Service. Age UK Solihull has a Direct Payments Team and an Information and Advice Service, and its website has up to date information on direct payments including a handbook. You can contact the team on 0121 709 7591 or by email at [email protected].
Visit Age UK Solihull Direct Payments Information and Advice Service
Worth knowing
The council can issue a prepaid card in your name or to a suitable person, such as a trusted family member or friend, who can manage the payments on your behalf.
Worth knowing
If you employ a personal assistant, the council can set up payroll for you through the payroll provider it has approved.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Solihull
206 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Solihull. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
206 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Solihull
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 SolihullStep 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 Solihull
Usually, yes. A direct payment can pay a self-employed carer your family has chosen, employ a personal assistant, or buy agency hours. We could not find Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what checks it wants before anyone starts.
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council publishes £18.52 an hour for a personal assistant 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.
Usually it buys more hours. Carers near you typically charge £19.50 an hour against £26.25 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.
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council's direct payments team on 0121 704 6883 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 Birmingham
- Direct payments in Coventry
- Direct payments in Warwickshire
- Direct payments in Sandwell
- Direct payments in Walsall
- Direct payments in Dudley
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 Solihull that is NHS Birmingham and Solihull.
Council details were read from Solihull 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 28 agencies near Solihull that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Solihull
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.