Direct paymentsWestminster
Direct payments in Westminster
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. Westminster City 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.
561 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Westminster
An hour of care in Westminster
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £20.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 85 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £24.95
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, 22/03/2025
- £18.89
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 Westminster
These are the rates Westminster City 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat rate paid for personal assistants through a direct payment, inclusive of employment costs | £18.89 an hour | 22/03/2025 | westminster.moderngov.co.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 £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 £24.95 an hour. The median published by 85 agencies near you. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ13 hours
At £18.89 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. Westminster City 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 Westminster
Westminster City Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. The council will allow a direct payment to be used for a self-employed personal assistant, but it will first check that the request is supported by evidence of the correct employment status and that all necessary checks have been completed.
“The council will check that any requests to engage a self-employed PA is supported by evidence of the correct employment status and that all necessary checks have been completed.”
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 Westminster
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 recipients are given a council prepaid card, issued by Prepaid Financial Services, which the council loads with the direct payment and can monitor online.
Provider: Prepaid Financial Services Limited (PFS)
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
A separate bank account can be used instead of the prepaid card only in exceptional circumstances where the card is not suitable.
How the money is paid: Managed account
Managed payroll services can also be used, where the person does not hold the direct payment funds and payments are made to a separate bank account held by an independent organisation.
Worth knowing
A 6 per cent contingency fund is included in the weekly direct payment budget.
Worth knowing
Where someone plans to employ a personal assistant, the council will usually make a one-off payment to cover start-up costs in addition to the ongoing weekly direct payment budget.
Worth knowing
Self-employed personal assistants will be paid a flat rate inclusive of all costs, and an extra 3 per cent will be paid into the direct payment account as a contingency fund.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Westminster
561 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Westminster. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
561 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Westminster
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 WestminsterIn their words
Families near Westminster on the carers they chose
“The quality of life that she's given my parents has been priceless. The peace of mind she's given my sisters and I, through a very difficult time, has been invaluable.”
John M., 2026
About Liliana S.Carer based in London · 5 reviews“She has an unusual combination of kindness and firmness, is quite unflappable, physically strong, extremely savvy”
Hiram S., 2025
About Janet F.Carer based in London · 3 reviews“The interaction she gives my mother is incredible, singing, dancing, taking her to groups, on plenty of walks which mum always loves.”
Naomi C., 2022
About Joyce C.Carer based in Greater London · 4 reviews“Best of all she helped Mum feel good about herself again: by listening to her, caring for her medical and personal needs in a professional, humane and calm way”
Amanda P., 2020
About Peri A.Carer based in Greater London · 4 reviews“Maria has been absolutely amazing with my father, she has help to maintain his weight and put a smile back on his face.”
Kirsty E., 2024
About Maria Jose F.Carer based in London · 2 reviewsStep 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 Westminster
Yes. The council will allow a direct payment to be used for a self-employed personal assistant, but it will first check that the request is supported by evidence of the correct employment status and that all necessary checks have been completed. 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.
Westminster City Council publishes £18.89 an hour for a personal assistant for 22/03/2025. 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 £20.00 an hour against £24.95 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 £18.89, it buys fewer.
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.
Westminster City Council's direct payments team on 020 7641 2500 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 Kensington and Chelsea
- Direct payments in Camden
- Direct payments in City of London
- Direct payments in Islington
- Direct payments in Wandsworth
- Direct payments in Southwark
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 Westminster that is NHS West and North London.
Council details were read from Westminster City 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 85 agencies near Westminster that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Westminster
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.