12 May 2023
Your request
We are seeking to understand the way in which your foster carers are being paid in your service. The department which would know this information would be within social services in your fostering team.
The information we require is:
For your mainstream foster carer population (general/unconnected carers) the basic weekly allowances paid for 2023/24 per age bracket for all age bands. NOT including any fee/reward element for foster carers.
Please detail any other allowances paid for children living in mainstream foster care in addition to their weekly allowance, for example religious festival, holiday, birthday, other. Please detail the amount paid and the frequency foster carers can receive these.
Please detail any additional allowances or fees paid to for children with additional support needs or disabilities.
Your current fee/reward structure for mainstream foster carers (NB this is different to allowances for the child). Please include:
i) Details of the levels/bands for carers and how much you pay per week at each level/band.
ii) The number of mainstream foster carers on each level/band, including those that receive no fee on top of the child's allowance.
For your kinship foster carer population (connected carers) the basic weekly allowances paid for 2023/24 per age bracket for all age bands. NOT including any fee/reward element for foster carers.
Please detail any other allowances paid for children living in kinship foster care in addition to their weekly allowance, for example religious festival, holiday, birthday, other. Please detail the amount paid and the frequency foster carers can receive these.
Your current fee/reward structure for kinship foster carers (NB this is different to allowances for the child). Please include:
i) Details of the levels/bands for carers and how much you pay per week at each level/band.
ii) The number of kinship foster carers on each level/band, including those that receive no fee on top of the child's allowance.
Your 2023-24 weekly allowances for former foster carers looking after young people in 18+ Staying Put arrangements, broken down by year 1, year 2, and year 3 if necessary.
Your 2023-24 weekly fee payments for former foster carers looking after young people in 18+ Staying Put arrangements, broken down by year 1, year 2, and year 3 if necessary.
Our response
For your mainstream foster carer population (general/unconnected carers) the basic weekly allowances paid for 2023/24 per age bracket for all age bands. NOT including any fee/reward element for foster carers.
|
Age Range |
Aged 0-12 years |
Aged 13+ years |
|
Fostering Allowance (for the child) |
£177.25 per week |
£237.65 per week |
Please detail any other allowances paid for children living in mainstream foster care in addition to their weekly allowance, for example religious festival, holiday, birthday, other. Please detail the amount paid and the frequency foster carers can receive these. Please detail any additional allowances or fees paid to for children with additional support needs or disabilities.
|
Additional Payments and Allowances linked to the Child or Young Person |
Rate /Amount |
Frequency/Requirements |
|
School Uniform Grant |
Up to £250 |
This is usually paid only if a child or young person changes school because of a change of placement or move to secondary school. |
|
Spectacles or contact lenses |
Cost met by Lambeth if NHS not applicable |
The Supervising Social Worker is responsible for obtaining an Optician’s receipt from the foster carer and making the claim via the Team Manager and Access to Resources Team. |
|
Additional Activities |
The Basic Fostering Allowance is meant to cover the cost of general sporting, leisure and cultural activities. However, where a child or young person has a talent or interest which necessitates substantial additional costs in equipment, coaching or travel to these activities, consideration will be given to Lambeth Children’s Social Care paying for the additional costs. Such requests should be discussed and agreed by the Head of Fostering. |
|
|
Annual Holiday per child |
£300 |
Your current fee/reward structure for mainstream foster carers (NB this is different to allowances for the child). Please include:
i) Details of the levels/bands for carers and how much you pay per week at each level/band.
|
Age Range |
Aged 0-12 years |
Aged 13+ years |
|
Fostering Payment (for the carer) |
£229.25 per week |
£229.25 per week |
|
Children with Disabilities or High Level of Emotional and Behaviours Needs. |
||
|
Age Range |
Aged 0-12 years |
Aged 13+ years |
|
Fostering Payment (for the carer) |
£431.45 per week |
£431.45 per week |
ii) The number of mainstream foster carers on each level/band, including those that receive no fee on top of the child's allowance.
Mainstream Foster Care: 108
Enhanced disability allowance: 17
All foster carers receive a fee
For your kinship foster carer population (connected carers) the basic weekly allowances paid for 2023/24 per age bracket for all age bands. NOT including any fee/reward element for foster carers.
|
Age Range |
Aged 0-12 years |
Aged 13+ years |
|
Fostering Allowance (for the child) |
£177.25 per week |
£237.65.10 per week |
Please detail any other allowances paid for children living in kinship foster care in addition to their weekly allowance, for example religious festival, holiday, birthday, other. Please detail the amount paid and the frequency foster carers can receive these.
Additional allowances for religious festivals, holidays and birthdays are provided to the child from their social work teams.
Your current fee/reward structure for kinship foster carers (NB this is different to allowances for the child). Please include:
i) Details of the levels/bands for carers and how much you pay per week at each level/band.
The same levels/bands for mainstream foster carers listed above also applies to kinship foster carers.
ii) The number of kinship foster carers on each level/band, including those that receive no fee on top of the child's allowance.
Connected and Reg 24 Foster Carers: 39
Disability enhanced range: 7
Your 2023-24 weekly allowances for former foster carers looking after young people in 18+ Staying Put arrangements, broken down by year 1, year 2, and year 3 if necessary.
The Staying Put payment to the foster carer is set at £250 per week. These payments will be reviewed annually. Where young people are attending university and not living with the carer during term time, consideration will be giving to paying a retainer of a proportion of the Staying Put payment during term time.
Should the YP require extra support, has a high level of needs but wishes to remain with the carer under the Staying Put agreement then an enhanced rate of £350 per week can be made. An assessment of this request needs to be made by the SSW and or the SW to evidence the need for the higher rate of pay. This is then sent to the Team Manager and Service Manager for approval.
The young person is expected to make a financial contribution from their personal benefit allowance (Universal Credit: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit) towards the cost of food and utilities. The actual amount should be agreed between young person and the carer before the Staying Put arrangement starts, incorporated into the Living Together Agreement, and reviewed either when circumstances change or at the pathway plan review.
Where a young person is working, they should be contributing an agreed percentage of their net earnings towards the household costs. Again this needs to be agreed between the carer and young person, with the support of the personal adviser. Agreed contributions will be laid out in the Living Together Agreement. They should be reviewed at least annually, and earlier if there are significant changes, and should not be at a level that prevents the young person from saving. Contributions are paid by the young person directly to the carer.
All young people are required to claim Universal Credit. In situations where young people are working part-time and do not claim a means tested personal benefit, they will still need to claim Universal Lambeth Annual Foster Care Handbook 2020 114 Credit. Earnings over £57.90 will result in a reduction of Universal Credit/benefit which will need to be made up by a contribution by the young person. If the carer is in receipt of means tested benefits and that income is reduced if a young person claims universal credit, children’s services will pay an amount to top up their income to the previous level.
If a young person has no recourse to public funds (NRPF) children’s services will pay the equivalent of the Local Housing Allowance rate, provided that the young person is not in receipt of income which could be taken into consideration. Universal Credit, Housing Element should be paid directly to Staying Put carers (this element is taxable). Personal Advisers will help young people complete Universal Credit applications and arrange for payments to be made to carers. This will be laid out in the Living Together Agreement.
If a young person does not claim the benefits they are entitled to or pay their contribution, they will be in breach of their Living Together Agreement. If for any reason the Universal Credit or young person’s contribution is not made available to the carers a meeting should be called to review the Living Together Agreement. The young person is expected to make a financial contribution from their personal benefit allowance towards the cost of food and utilities. The actual amount should be agreed between young person and the carer before the Staying Put arrangement starts, incorporated into the Living Together Agreement, and reviewed either when circumstances change or at the pathway plan review. During this time the carer should decide whether they wish to continue providing the accommodation if the young person continues to not pay. Universal Credit, Housing Element is now determined by Local Housing Allowance Rates based upon the area in which the applicant lives and may change each month. However, these rates are fixed in the month of application until the end of the financial year.
The Valuation Office Agency provides an online calculator. The young person's Universal Credit application should be made by the young person with support from their personal adviser. To ensure that there is a smooth process the application should be made 13 weeks prior to the young person's 18th birthday. There should be no change of payments to the carers after the 1st year of the young person’s application for Universal Credit. Should any issues arise then this needs to be taken to the PA. Carers receiving a Staying Put payment have a duty to inform the Local Authority of any changes in their circumstances that might affect the payment.