Direct paymentsWestmorland and Furness
Direct payments in Westmorland and Furness
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.
24 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Westmorland and Furness
What the council pays
Direct payment rates in Westmorland and Furness
Westmorland and Furness 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 Westmorland and Furness
Direct payments in Westmorland and Furness 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 Westmorland and Furness 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 Westmorland and Furness
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
Direct payments are loaded onto a pre-paid card supplied to the council by Prepaid Financial Services.
Provider: Prepaid Financial Services (PFS/EML)
Help with running it
People First (UDirect Support). People First in Cumbria can help with the process of employing a personal assistant, including placing adverts, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, setting up interviews, employer responsibilities and payroll responsibilities. Depending on the service you need there may be a small charge, which you can discuss with your practitioner to see if it could be covered by your direct payment.
Worth knowing
A direct payment can fund minor adaptations costing up to £1000 to help you meet your needs at home.
Worth knowing
The council reviews a direct payment once in the first six months and then at least once a year.
Worth knowing
You are paid the gross amount and the council invoices you for your maximum weekly assessed charge every four weeks.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Westmorland and Furness
24 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Westmorland and Furness. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
24 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Westmorland and Furness
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 Westmorland and FurnessIn their words
Families near Westmorland and Furness on the carers they chose
“Thanks to Tracy, Dad was always immaculately dressed and clean, his meals were all home cooked and nutritionally well balanced and his home was always kept really clean and tidy.”
Jackie S., 2025
About Tracy O.Carer based in Preston“I found Tracy to be kind caring very helpful and punctual and heart of gold.”
Roy A., 2024
About Tracy B.Carer based in Morecambe · 3 reviews“She brings a ray of light, love and happiness to all around her.”
Carol B., 2024
About Annamarie B.Carer based in BlackpoolStep 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 Westmorland and Furness
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 Westmorland and Furness 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 Westmorland and Furness 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 £20.65 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 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.
Westmorland and Furness Council's direct payments team on 0300 373 3301. 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 Blackpool
- Direct payments in Cumberland
- Direct payments in Lancashire
- Direct payments in Sefton
- Direct payments in Bradford
- Direct payments in Wigan
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 Westmorland and Furness that is mostly NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria and partly NHS North East and North Cumbria.
Council details were read from Westmorland and Furness 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 Westmorland and Furness
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.