Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the financial support available to kinship carers.

The government recognises the important role that kinship carers play in caring for some of the most vulnerable children.

The government recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kinship Allowance in up to ten local authorities to test whether paying an allowance to cover certain costs, such as supporting a child to settle into a new home with relatives, can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends.

This is the single biggest kinship care investment made by government to date. This investment could transform the lives of vulnerable children who can no longer live at home.

The programme will begin in 2025 and decisions about future national rollout will be informed by the findings of the evaluation. The department will share further detail on the timetable and delivery of the programme in due course.