Minutes

21      PROPOSED FOSTERING ALLOWANCES FOR THE YEAR 2023/2024 – The Director: Children and Families submitted a report seeking consideration of an increase in allowances paid to foster carers for the year 2023/2024.

The recruitment and retention of foster carers continued to be a key priority for the council to enable choice, the best matches and achieve stability for children within a family.

The Government’s recent response to the independent review of children’s social care ‘Stable Homes Built on Love’ made the recommendation that fostering allowances should increase by 12.43% and a recent letter sent to councils from the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing confirmed that the revised National Minimum Rates for fostering allowances for 2023/2024 will include this 12.43% uplift. 

Within North Lincolnshire the council had continued to recognise and acknowledge the important contribution which foster carers made in providing high quality, loving and stable homes for children and that there was a need to ensure that they were fully supported (including financially) to continue to be able to do so.  As a result a number of measures had already been agreed.

·       Council tax support reimbursement payments to meet the council tax liability of foster carers whilst they had a child/children living with them.  This would commence in April 2023.

·       As an interim measure, to recognise the issues carers were raising, an additional task allowance (ATA) of £25.00 to be paid weekly to foster carers.  To take effect week commencing 13/02/2023 this would be until to the end of the financial year until the revised allowance rates commence.

The basic fostering allowance in North Lincolnshire was currently paid at two levels.  Level one was paid at the national minimum rate and was paid to any newly approved carers and level two was paid following completion of all mandatory training in recognition of the increased knowledge and skills gained.  At any one time around 75% of carers were receiving the level 2 allowance.

Resolved – That Option 1, set out in paragraph 3.1 of the report, that foster carer’s allowances at both level one and leave two be increased by 12.43%, be approved.