Social Work Scotland has long supported a nationally agreed allowance across Scotland. Foster and kinship carers are a core and critical part of our care system in Scotland, and as an organisation Social Work Scotland acknowledge their commitment and passion to improving the lives of Scotland’s children, providing alternative family care to those who are unable to live with their birth families. We very much welcome today’s announcement that agreement on funding a national allowance has been reached, with payments backdated to April 2023. Bringing Scotland into alignment with the other nations in the UK with a national Fostering and Kinship Allowance was an outcome from the 2017 national foster care review. Achieving consistency of funding the costs of caring for children in foster and kinship care is one more step towards meeting the Promise for children and will critically contribute to the recruitment and retention of carers.
Ben Farrugia, Director of Social Work Scotland, said: “This is a long-awaited but still terrific outcome, securing for many children, and those amazing foster carers who look after them, an improved level of financial support. With the framework now agreed, all partners can turn their energies to increasing the number of foster carers in Scotland; which is a critical component in transforming the care we can provide to children and families.”
