Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide additional funding to help support kinship carers.

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

On 27 October 2024, the government 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 the additional costs of supporting the child can help increase the number of children taken in by family members and friends. The announcement is accessible here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-protects-education-priorities-in-face-of-inherited-22-billion-blackhole. The department will share further details on the process for selecting local authorities in due course.

This is the single biggest investment made by government in kinship care 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.