Direct paymentsWest Northamptonshire
Direct payments in West Northamptonshire
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.
107 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of West Northamptonshire
An hour of care in West Northamptonshire
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 16 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £26.10
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 West Northamptonshire
West Northamptonshire 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 £20.00 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 £26.10 an hour. The median published by 16 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. West Northamptonshire 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 West Northamptonshire
Direct payments in West Northamptonshire 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 West Northamptonshire 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 West Northamptonshire
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 set up a prepaid card account in the recipient's name, provided by PFS, with a prepaid debit card linked to it.
Provider: PFS
How the money is paid: Managed account
A managed account is where a third party manages the direct payment on the person's behalf, and the council has its own service for this, the Personal Budget Support Service (PBSS).
Provider: Personal Budget Support Service (PBSS)
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
A direct payment can instead go into a separate bank account used only for care and support costs, usually held jointly with someone who is not an employee.
Help with running it
Personal Budget Support Service (PBSS). This council team advises direct payment recipients on employer duties, employment law, paying staff, managing care agencies and record keeping, and it helps with recruiting personal assistants and can run payroll or a managed account.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Worth knowing
A direct payment for transport is worked out using a mileage rate of £2.40 per mile plus a £2.40 starting charge, based on the local Hackney Carriage rate.
Worth knowing
For adults and carers, the council carries out an initial review within the first 6 to 8 weeks to check the direct payment account is properly established and well managed.
Worth knowing
A direct payment can be used for a one-off purchase of goods or services that meet assessed needs, such as a laptop to keep in touch with family.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in West Northamptonshire
107 carers are based within about 45 minutes of West Northamptonshire. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
107 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of West Northamptonshire
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 NorthamptonshireStep 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 Northamptonshire
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 West Northamptonshire Council's own wording on self-employed carers, so ask the direct payments team what checks it wants before anyone starts.
We could not find a rate that West Northamptonshire 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 £20.00 an hour against £26.10 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.
West Northamptonshire Council's direct payments team on 0300 126 3200 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 North Northamptonshire
- Direct payments in Milton Keynes
- Direct payments in Bedford
- Direct payments in Warwickshire
- Direct payments in Central Bedfordshire
- Direct payments in Coventry
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 West Northamptonshire that is NHS Northamptonshire.
Council details were read from West Northamptonshire 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 16 agencies near West Northamptonshire that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in West Northamptonshire
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.