Direct paymentsWest Lothian
Direct payments in West Lothian
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. West Lothian 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.
18 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of West Lothian
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in West Lothian
West Lothian 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.
Choosing your carer
Paying a self-employed carer in West Lothian
West Lothian Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. The Personal Assistant Employer Handbook includes information on arrangements a direct payment holder may have to engage a self-employed worker, along with the risks of engaging self-employed workers who might still be regarded as employees under employment or tax law.
“Within this handbook there is some information on arrangements a direct payment holder may have to engage a self-employed worker.”
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 West Lothian
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: Separate bank account
Anyone requesting a direct payment has to set up a new bank account to manage the funds, and the budget is usually administered every four weeks in advance.
How the money is paid: Managed account
As an alternative, Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living can open and hold a financially managed account, receive the council payment and pay the personal assistant from it.
Provider: Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living
Help with running it
Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living. Offers a payroll service for people who employ personal assistants and can also hold financially managed accounts. It also helps people recruit personal assistants, creates contracts and gives advice on annual leave entitlements.
The direct payments team
Phone: 01506 280740 (Option 1)
Email: [email protected]
Worth knowing
West Lothian Council will cover the cost of the Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living fee as part of the direct payment.
Worth knowing
Spending is checked jointly by the allocated practitioner and the Self Directed Support team, and money left unspent is taken back by the council.
Worth knowing
If a contribution is required for an adult receiving Option 1, the contribution amount is taken off the quarterly payment, and the person then has to top up their direct payment bank account or pay into the Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living account.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in West Lothian
18 carers are based within about 45 minutes of West Lothian. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
18 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of West Lothian
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 West LothianStep 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 West Lothian
Yes. The Personal Assistant Employer Handbook includes information on arrangements a direct payment holder may have to engage a self-employed worker, along with the risks of engaging self-employed workers who might still be regarded as employees under employment or tax law. 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 West Lothian 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.
It depends on the rate the council used. Carers near you typically charge £19.20 an hour. Divide your weekly budget by that to see the hours it buys, and remember that bank holidays are charged at one and a half times the usual rate.
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.
West Lothian Council's direct payments team on 01506 280740 (Option 1) 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.
Council details were read from West Lothian 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 West Lothian
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.