Direct paymentsStaffordshire
Direct payments in Staffordshire
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. Staffordshire 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.
40 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Staffordshire
An hour of care in Staffordshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.20
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 13 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £25.82
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 Staffordshire
Staffordshire County 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 PrimeCarers13 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 agency9.5 hours
At £25.82 an hour. The median published by 13 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. Staffordshire County 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 Staffordshire
Staffordshire County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. The council discourages using self-employed personal assistants or communicator guides because of employment status risks, and asks you to speak to them if you are unsure.
“We discourage using self-employed PAs or communicator guides because of employment status risks—speak to us if you’re unsure”
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 Staffordshire
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
Most direct payments are loaded onto an allpay My Prepaid Card, and any assessed contribution has to be paid onto the same card.
Provider: allpay
How the money is paid: Managed account
If you do not want to handle the account yourself, a Direct Payment Support Provider can run a managed account for you.
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
In some situations the council will instead approve a separate bank account used only for the direct payment.
Worth knowing
The council loads the direct payment onto the prepaid card every two weeks, covering the period that has already passed.
Worth knowing
Some support plans include a two week contingency sum for emergencies, which needs written approval before it is spent and is returned when the direct payment stops.
Worth knowing
The council will fund employer's liability insurance up to £90 per year for people employing a personal assistant.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Staffordshire
40 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Staffordshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
40 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Staffordshire
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 StaffordshireStep 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 Staffordshire
Yes. The council discourages using self-employed personal assistants or communicator guides because of employment status risks, and asks you to speak to them if you are unsure. 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 Staffordshire County 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 £25.82 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.
Staffordshire County Council's direct payments team on 0300 111 8010 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 Walsall
- Direct payments in Stoke-on-Trent
- Direct payments in Wolverhampton
- Direct payments in Sandwell
- Direct payments in Telford and Wrekin
- Direct payments in Derby
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 Staffordshire that is NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
Council details were read from Staffordshire 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. The local agency figure is the median of 13 agencies near Staffordshire that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Staffordshire
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.