We all want children to thrive and to grow up in a safe, stable and loving home; thankfully family and friends can step in to play a vital role in caring for children who are, sadly, unable to continue living with their parents. Quite understandably, most children benefit from living with someone they already know and trust, rather than a stranger.
As such, Kinship care can transform outcomes for some of our most vulnerable children and I am committed to championing kinship families so that more children can continue growing up within their families and communities.
In December 2023, I was delighted the previous Conservative Government honoured its commitment to initiate reforms in children’s social care by launching the first-ever national kinship care strategy, Championing Kinship Care.
The new kinship strategy and extra foster care funding are part of a suite of initiatives which meet commitments set out in the children’s social care strategy, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, published in February 2023. The children’s social care strategy outlined measures to transform children’s social care, properly supporting families, integrating the child protection system, improving foster care recruitment, and hiring more social workers. As part of this, there is now more focus on keeping children in the care of family and loved ones through improved support and reducing barriers to kinship care. This includes investing £9 million in kinship care training and support.
Backed by £20 million to deliver the Kinship Care strategy, the Department for Education confirmed it would provide an allowance to many kinship carers to match that received by foster carers - currently between £154 and £270 per week, per child. This investment marked an important step toward building a children's social care system with kinship care at its core. Its commitments included:
- Providing £16 million to pilot giving a financial allowance to special guardian kinship carers caring for children who were previously looked after by a local authority.
- Publishing guidance for employers on how kinship carers can be supported at work.
- Providing £3.8 million to expand the role of Virtual School Heads to promote the children in kinship care.
- Publishing a definition of kinship care.
In the recent Autumn Budget, the Chancellor outlined £250 million in funding for 2025/26 to build on previous reforms aimed at supporting children and reducing costs for local authorities. This includes £44 million to pilot a Kinship Allowance, expand foster placements, and establish regional recruitment hubs to help local authorities attract and support foster carers.
Statutory guidance for local authorities on supporting kinship carers has been issued. This makes it clear that children and young people should receive the support that they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare. It explains that support, including financial support, can be provided under the Children Act 1989. Local authorities should also have clear eligibility criteria in place in relation to the support services they provide.
Local authorities are also required by central government to publish a policy that sets out their approach to promoting and supporting the needs of all children living with kinship carers. The policy should be clear, updated regularly, and made freely and widely available. I would encourage you to contact our local authority for more information about the policy in our area.
Kinship care - West Sussex County Council
Kinship carers in East Sussex | free support and access to advice
Foster care was also bolstered by an additional £8.5 million. The total investment into foster care across the previous Parliament was £36 million, which is the largest ever investment in fostering in England. The funding ensured there are more foster carers available to step up and look after children by extending recruitment campaigns, simplifying recruitment processes, and providing better support for existing foster carers to even more local authorities.
The Labour Government is expected to outline its plans for comprehensive reform of the children’s social care system in Phase 2 of the Spending Review and I urge it to consider prioritising early interventions to keep children with their families wherever possible and address critical issues in the care market, ensuring they truly support and incentivise foster parents and prioritise stability for children.
I will continue to follow this issue closely as I know it is one many of us care deeply about. While I know there is still much left to be achieved, I am greatly encouraged by the amount of cross-party support there is for this issue.
I will also continue to hold the Government to account in Parliament to make sure the importance and value of kinship carers in the care system is maintained. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you again for working tirelessly for those you care for.
