A personal assistant (PA) is someone employed by the family or young disabled person to help with day-to day living.

It is not a care role in the traditional sense and can involve personal care as well as many other tasks that you decide need doing.

Hiring a PA may help provide you with more choice and control over how your support needs are met. However, taking on a PA turns you (as a direct payments holder) into an employer with all the legal, financial and practical issues that has.

A personal assistant can help an employer with basic aspects of their care. This could include help with:

• Personal care
• Preparing meals
• Getting dressed
• Taking medication
• Getting to school or college

You should be able to review this regularly to ensure that your child’s or young person’s needs are being met in the best way possible.

You can employ a personal assistant if you receive money from the City of Wolverhampton Council in the form of direct payment or a personal budget to help you in your home or community. 

To find out about whether you are eligible to access Direct Payments and view factsheets and guides about employing a Personal Assistant through the use of Direct Payment, Adult Social Care please visit Direct payments.

You may choose to employ your own Personal Assistant. If you do, Barrie Bookkeeping can give you as much support as you need to help you use your Direct Payment. 

• The support service is independent of the Council and has a contract with the Council to provide support to people who choose to use Direct Payments.
• The support service specialises in this advice and will provide support and information on all aspects of Direct Payments and how to be a good employer.
• They will be able to keep you up to date with changes in employment legislation and developments within independent living that may be of benefit to you when choosing to use your own staff.  

They will provide you with a factsheet pack to give you some guidance on becoming a good employer, how to keep safe and how to use Direct Payments.

City of Wolverhampton Council strongly recommends that you use the support of Barrie Bookkeeping when using your direct payment to employ Personal Assistants. Should you choose not to use Barrie Bookkeeping, you MUST inform the social worker who is supporting you. 

If you’re looking to employ a PA yourself 

If you’re looking to employ a PA yourself, a job description will help people who are interested in applying to get a clear understanding of what the job involves.

Think about exactly what help you need before you employ someone or sign a contract with an agency. It may be helpful to think about a typical day for you to write a job description. 

If you are recruiting for a PA to support a child under the age of eight you will also need to adhere to the registered childminder regulations.

For further guidance about employing a Personal Assistant visit Skills for Care or Scope.