About 5,000 children in seven areas will be supported through pilot – backed by £126m over two years – to test whether paying kinship carers fostering-style allowances will support permanence and avoid children going into care
Seven councils are to test paying kinship carers an allowance for looking after about 5,000 children who would otherwise have gone into care.
The Department for Education (DfE) has allocated £126m over the next two years for the long-awaited kinship allowance pilot, which will also involve the provision of family network support packages. These are designed to tackle the financial or practical barriers to family networks taking on the care of a child where there are safeguarding concerns.
The pilot will apply in seven so-called “kinship zones”, each from a different region: Bexley (Greater London), Bolton (North West), Newcastle (North East), North East Lincolnshire (East Midlands), Medway (South East), Thurrock (East of England), and Wiltshire (South West).
The trial, which will run for up to three-and-a-half years, will be evaluated by sector what works body Foundations and consultancy Alma Economics, who will examine how far it enables more children to be looked after by family and friends, as opposed to in care.
Payments equivalent to fostering allowances
Currently, family and friends foster carers are the only type of kinship carer entitled to an allowance, as they must be paid at least the national minimum fostering allowance. This currently ranges from £170 to £299 based on the child’s age and the carer’s region, though some councils and independent fostering agencies (IFAs) pay more than this.
Under the pilot, eligible carers will be paid the equivalent of the national minimum fostering allowance. Based on details previously provided by the DfE, allowances in pilot areas would be paid to carers who:
- Had obtained a special guardianship order (SGO) – which gives them overriding parental responsibility – for the child in public law proceedings;
- Had obtained an SGO through private law proceedings;
- Had applied for an SGO through private law and passed the first dispute hearing resolution appointment;
- Had obtained, through private law, a child arrangements order (CAO) for the child to live with them – or applied for such an order and had a first dispute hearing resolution meeting – where the interim or final CAO did not name a parent of the child and one of a set of other circumstances applied. These include the child having been in care, or subject to a child protection plan, immediately before the kinship arrangement was made.
Evidence for kinship payments
Campaigners have long warned that financial pressures on kinship carers have put placements at risk of breakdown. One in eight carers said they were concerned they would have to stop caring for the child in the subsequent year if their financial situation did not improve, according to a 2024 survey by the charity Kinship.
In its DfE-commissioned practice guide for councils on supporting kinship carers, published in 2024, Foundations said there was “promising evidence” that providing allowances would increase placement permanency and reduce the likelihood of disruption.
This was based on evidence from three US studies assessed as part of a Foundations-commissioned systematic review carried out by the Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI).
The CEI found a small but statistically significant impact on permanence from providing financial subsidies to carers who took on the guardianship of children. But it said the finding should be treated with caution because of the paucity of studies and the differences between the US and UK, adding that more evidence was needed.
Long wait for kinship pilot
The financial allowances pilot has been long promised by successive governments:
- The Conservatives said it would launch a pilot in eight areas in 2024-25, backed by a share of £20m in funding, in their December 2023 kinship strategy.
- The incoming Labour government then allocated £40m, in October 2024, for a pilot in up to 10 areas, starting in 2025-26.
- In July 2025, the government said the pilot would start in November of that year, in launching a call for expressions of interest from councils.
The pilot will now start in April 2026. Commenting on the announcement, the DfE’s national kinship care ambassador, Jahnine Davis, said: “The launch of the kinship zones pilot marks an important milestone for kinship carers and the children they care for.
“For the first time, we have a government led initiative that will not only examine how best to provide financial support for kinship families but will also encourage local authorities to look holistically at the support they offer and adopt a genuine ‘think family’ approach.”
‘Pilot welcome but progress far too slow’
The news was also welcomed by Kinship, but it warned that the pilot would cover a small minority of carers.
“A guaranteed allowance equal to the fostering allowance will be life changing for eligible kinship carers in the local authority areas where this is being piloted, many of whom struggle to afford the basics for the children they have unexpectedly stepped in to raise,” said Kinship chief executive Lucy Peake.
“While it’s welcome that this support is being piloted in a small number of local authorities to build the evidence for further rollout, the pace of change remains far too slow, with the pilot reaching only around 4% of children in kinship care in England.”
She warned that the pilot risked “paralysing progress” elsewhere, adding: “Kinship carers cannot wait another three or four years for the support they urgently need.”
Peake called on councils to “follow the lead of the small number of areas” already paying kinship allowances, on the grounds that this would save them money in care costs.
‘Carers face inconsistent support and unfair practice’
Fellow charity Family Rights Group (FRG) issued a similar message.
“Non-means tested financial support can help families meet the essential costs of raising children and enable those children to thrive within their family network, preventing the need for more costly arrangements within the care system,” said FRG chief executive Cathy Ashley.
“However, with over 150,000 children in England raised by family and friends in kinship care, only 3% are set to benefit in the near term. Across the country, many kinship families continue to experience inconsistent financial support and, at times, unfair practice.
“For example, some local authority policies and financial assessments do not adequately account for disability, placing disabled kinship carers and disabled children at particular disadvantage. This is an issue that national and local government need to address now.”
Source: Community Care, Mithran Samuel
