Direct paymentsSouth Ayrshire
Direct payments in South Ayrshire
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. South Ayrshire 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.
17 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of South Ayrshire
An hour of care in South Ayrshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £18.80
- The council’s agency rateWhat the council allows for agency care, all rates will commence on the 01-04- 2026
- £24.44
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, all rates will commence on the 01-04- 2026
- £17.67
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 South Ayrshire
These are the rates South Ayrshire 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adults (18-59) personal and non-personal home care rate | £24.44 an hour | all rates will commence on the 01-04- 2026 | hscp.south-ayrshire.gov.uk |
| Older People (60+) personal and non-personal home care rate | £24.44 an hour | all rates will commence on the 01-04- 2026 | hscp.south-ayrshire.gov.uk |
| Personal Assistant Rate (includes National Insurance and contingency) | £17.67 an hour | all rates will commence on the 01-04- 2026 | hscp.south-ayrshire.gov.uk |
| Personal Assistant Sleepover Rate | £17.67 an hour | all rates will commence on the 01-04- 2026 | hscp.south-ayrshire.gov.uk |
| Sleepover Rate (equivalent service rate for purchased support) | £16.49 an hour | all rates will commence on the 01-04- 2026 | hscp.south-ayrshire.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 PrimeCarers12.5 hours
At £18.80 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.
- An agency, at the council’s rate9.5 hours
At £24.44 an hour. What the council allows for an hour of agency care. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ13.5 hours
At £17.67 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. South Ayrshire 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 South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. If you want to use a direct payment (Individual Support Option 1) to employ a self-employed personal assistant, some checks have to take place before this is authorised, including the self-employed person providing written confirmation about their employment status.
“If someone in receipt of a direct payment (Individual Support Option 1) wants to employ a self-employed personal assistant, there are some checks that have to take place before this is authorised.”
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 South Ayrshire
What the council publishes about paying the money, getting help and getting in touch. Each card links to the page we checked it against.
Help with running it
Ayrshire Independent Living Network (AILN). Is funded by the partnership to provide free support and advice. It can help you put together a job advert, carry out recruitment checks, manage your budget and make sure you have the right insurances in place.
Worth knowing
The council pays a one-off payroll start-up cost of £450 when a personal assistant is employed through a direct payment.
Worth knowing
If the reconciliation of a direct payment shows an unused bank balance of more than four weeks of payments, the council will ask for the surplus back after a social work review.
Worth knowing
A family member can be employed as a personal assistant only in exceptional circumstances and only where the family member, the direct payment user and the council all agree.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in South Ayrshire
17 carers are based within about 45 minutes of South Ayrshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
17 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of South Ayrshire
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 South AyrshireStep 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 South Ayrshire
Yes. If you want to use a direct payment (Individual Support Option 1) to employ a self-employed personal assistant, some checks have to take place before this is authorised, including the self-employed person providing written confirmation about their employment status. 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.
South Ayrshire Council publishes £17.67 an hour for a personal assistant and £24.44 an hour for agency care for all rates will commence on the 01-04- 2026. 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 £18.80 an hour against £24.44 for agency care, so a budget worked out at the agency rate buys more hours from a self-employed carer. If your budget was worked out at the personal assistant rate of £17.67, it buys fewer.
In Scotland a family member can be paid where the council, the person and the family member all agree, the family member can do the work, and one of the reasons in the regulations applies, such as a limited choice of providers locally, or support being needed at times when nobody else is available. That is the self-directed support 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.
South Ayrshire 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.
Council details were read from South Ayrshire 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 South Ayrshire
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.