Wales foster carers to see uplift in allowances

The Welsh Government have published details of a 5.5% uplift to foster care allowances for 2022/23 in Wales.  

The Welsh Government have also called for all fostering service providers in Wales to publicise their allowances rates on their website and make sure potential foster carers are aware of the rates from 1 April 2023.  

They are also asking services to make allowances clearly separated from fees, which is essential to ensure foster carers know how much money constitutes the allowance, and thus must be spent on the child, and how much is a payment given to the foster carer in recognition of their time, skills and experience.  

Although this is an increase to the allowance and greater transparency for potential foster carers, it has been well documented that families are facing unprecedented increases in their cost of living.  

The weekly fostering allowances are designed to cover the full costs of looking after a child or young person in foster care. No foster carer should be out of pocket as a result of caring for a child on behalf of the state.  

The Fostering Network's State of the Nation 2021 report found that over a third of foster carers said that their allowances do not meet the full cost of looking after a child. This survey was carried out in Summer 2021 and the costs of living have significantly increased since.    

The Welsh Government are currently reviewing the national minimum allowance and are considering the findings in order to determine future payment rates.  

Whilst we wait for the outcome of this review, it is important to reinforce that the national minimum allowance must cover the full costs of looking after a child and if foster carers are to continue providing stable, loving homes for children and young people, they must be well funded to do so. 

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Each year The Fostering Network surveys local authorities across the UK to get a picture of how much money is being provided to foster carers to cover the cost of looking after a child in foster care. Read our reports for 2022/23.

The Fostering Network is calling on governments across the UK to provide urgent funding to cover the cost of fostering so children and young people do not miss out. Support our cost of fostering campaign.