Direct paymentsWest Sussex
Direct payments in West Sussex
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 Sussex 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.
17 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of West Sussex
An hour of care in West Sussex
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £21.00
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself
- £18.85
Employing a personal assistant costs less an hour, but makes your family the employer, with payroll and insurance to arrange. The detail is below.
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in West Sussex
These are the rates West Sussex County 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard direct payment rate for support bought by the hour | £18.85 an hour | Not stated | westsussexconnecttosupport.org |
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 personal assistant rate. Move it to match the budget in your support plan.
- A self-employed carer on PrimeCarers9 hours
At £21.00 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 personal assistant you employ10 hours
At £18.85 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. West Sussex 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 West Sussex
West Sussex County Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. Direct payments can be used to pay a self-employed personal assistant, but anyone planning to do this should always be referred to the Direct Payments Support Service.
“use a self-employed Personal Assistant or pay volunteer expenses, should always be referred to the Direct Payments Support Service”
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 Sussex
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 personal budget is loaded onto a prepaid card account, which can be used for internet and telephone payments, direct debits and standing orders.
How the money is paid: Other arrangement
Someone who feels unable to manage a prepaid card account can discuss an alternative way of receiving the direct payment with their social care worker.
Help with running it
Independent Lives. The council pays them to advise, support and provide information to people using direct payments, and will refer you to them for advice about employing a personal assistant, including one-to-one support on your responsibilities as an employer.
Where the council points you to find a personal assistant
Independent Lives Core Employment Service
Worth knowing
If a service costs more than the council's standard direct payment rate, the extra can be met by a voluntary top up paid in from a different account.
Worth knowing
Money can be built up in the direct payment account with agreement, but savings of more than eight weeks of the budget will be looked into by the council.
Worth knowing
In exceptional cases and with the council's agreement, part of the direct payment can be paid to a family member living in the same household for care or help managing the budget.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in West Sussex
17 carers are based within about 45 minutes of West Sussex. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
17 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of West Sussex
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 SussexStep 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 Sussex
Yes. Direct payments can be used to pay a self-employed personal assistant, but anyone planning to do this should always be referred to the Direct Payments Support Service. 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.
West Sussex County Council publishes £18.85 an hour for a personal assistant. 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.
Not always hour for hour. Carers near you typically charge £21.00 an hour, above the council's personal assistant rate of £18.85, so the same budget buys fewer hours than employing someone would. Some families choose that anyway because nobody becomes an employer. You can also pay for extra hours yourself.
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 Sussex County Council's direct payments team on 01243 642121. 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 Brighton and Hove
- Direct payments in Surrey
- Direct payments in Portsmouth
- Direct payments in East Sussex
- Direct payments in Hampshire
- Direct payments in Sutton
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 Sussex that is NHS Surrey and Sussex.
Council details were read from West Sussex 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. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in West Sussex
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.