Direct paymentsWirral
Direct payments in Wirral
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. Wirral 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.
34 self-employed carers within about 45 minutes of Wirral
An hour of care in Wirral
- A self-employed carer near youTypical rate on PrimeCarers, our fee included
- £19.00
- Local home care agenciesMedian of 6 agencies nearby that publish a price
- £28.00
- The council’s personal assistant rateFor someone you employ yourself, from 1 April 2026
- £13.45
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 Wirral
These are the rates Wirral 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wirral Council personal assistant hourly rate | £13.45 an hour | from 1 April 2026 | wirral.gov.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 PrimeCarers14.5 hours
At £19.00 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 £28.00 an hour. The median published by 6 agencies near you. The agency sends whoever is on its rota.
- A personal assistant you employ20.5 hours
At £13.45 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. Wirral 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 Wirral
Wirral Council allows a direct payment to pay a self-employed carer, with conditions. You may use your direct payment for a self-employed personal assistant, but you must confirm their employment status with HMRC checks first, as the council will not accept liability for any HMRC penalties.
“It is your responsibility to make sure your personal assistant’s employment status is correct. All checks should be completed before you deem a personal assistant as having self-employed status.”
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 Wirral
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
Your direct payment can be loaded onto a prepaid MasterCard, and the council has instant access to that account to support regular audits, so you will not be asked to supply bank statements.
Provider: EML
How the money is paid: Separate bank account
If you prefer a bank account, it must be a separate account in your name used only for the direct payment and your contribution.
How the money is paid: Managed account
A commissioned managed account service can handle the financial side of the direct payment, including paying invoices, at no extra cost to you.
Provider: People, Places and Lives (PPL)
Help with running it
Direct Payment Support Service (PeoplePlus). PeoplePlus, the Direct Payment Support Service, can support you with all aspects of recruiting a personal assistant, including DBS checks and references, insurance, terms and conditions, risk assessments, setting up a payroll and training options.
Worth knowing
Your direct payment records are checked 8 to 12 weeks after the payment starts and then once a year.
Worth knowing
The cost of payroll and of employers liability insurance is built into the direct payment, and you pay these from the direct payment account yourself.
Worth knowing
You can agree in your support plan to hold back some of the payment as a contingency, though unused money may later be adjusted or reclaimed.
Who is available
Self-employed carers in Wirral
34 carers are based within about 45 minutes of Wirral. You can see their rates and experience, and message them, before committing to anything.
34 private carers are based within about 45 minutes of Wirral
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 WirralStep 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 Wirral
Yes. You may use your direct payment for a self-employed personal assistant, but you must confirm their employment status with HMRC checks first, as the council will not accept liability for any HMRC penalties. 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.
Wirral Council publishes £13.45 an hour for a personal assistant for from 1 April 2026. 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 £19.00 an hour against £28.00 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 £13.45, 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.
Start with Wirral Council's adult social care team, whose direct payments page has the current details. If you do not have a care assessment yet, ask for a needs assessment first.
Direct payments in nearby council areas
- Direct payments in Liverpool
- Direct payments in Knowsley
- Direct payments in Halton
- Direct payments in St Helens
- Direct payments in Sefton
- Direct payments in Flintshire
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 Wirral that is NHS Cheshire and Merseyside.
Council details were read from Wirral 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 6 agencies near Wirral that publish a price. Carer rates are what carers near you advertise, read live.
Find a carer in Wirral
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.