Kinship carers in some areas of England to be paid

Grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends who step in to provide kinship care for children are to be paid in seven areas of England under a new government pilot.

Some councils already pay kinship carers but the Department for Education said it was now launching the largest investment in support for such carers nationally.

The pilot, which will run for up to three and a half years, will begin in areas known as Kinship Zones.

They are in Bolton in Greater Manchester, Newcastle, North East Lincolnshire, Thurrock in the east of England, Bexley in Greater London, Medway in the South East and Wiltshire in the South West.

The department said about 5,000 vulnerable children and their families could be helped by the pilot, with £126m being invested.

National charity Kinship said the pilot would cover only a small fraction of children in kinship care and cautioned that while it was an important first step, more was needed.

Children and families minister Josh MacAlister said the country owed kinship carers "thanks and our support" and the new financial allowance recognised "the vital role they play ensuring families can stay together".

He said the Kinship Zones would lead the way in showing the impact for children "when we unlock the power of grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives who could care for their kin in the place of the care system".

Jahnine Davis, who is the national kinship care ambassador, said the pilot was a milestone for kinship carers.

She hoped it would encourage local authorities to look holistically at the support they offered and adopt a "genuine 'think family' approach".

Lucy Peake from Kinship said the pilot was welcome to build evidence for a further roll-out, but the pace of change remained far too slow.

She said the pilot would only reach about 4% of children in kinship care in England, adding: "Most families will see no change, continuing to face a postcode lottery of poor and inconsistent support.

"While the pilot is positive for those included, it risks paralysing progress elsewhere."

She urged local authorities not to wait until the end of the pilot, but instead "follow the lead of the small number of areas already seeing the benefits of equal allowances to families and their budgets".

The charity said that for every 100 children looked after in well-supported kinship care rather than local authority care, the state saved £4m per year and increased the lifetime earnings of those children by £2m.

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