Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2024 to Question 14130, whether the local authorities to take part in the kinship allowance trial have been selected.

The government has recently announced a £40 million package to trial a new Kinship Allowance in up to 10 local authorities to test whether paying an allowance to cover the additional costs of supporting the child can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. Further details on the process for selecting local authorities will be shared shortly.

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