News

The Fostering Network gave oral evidence to the Education Select Committee on Tuesday 16 April based on the extensive written evidence and research we submitted earlier this year. Sarah Thomas, our CEO, who has more than 20 years’ experience in children’s social care and working directly with fostering families, represented The Fostering Network and reflected the experience of our foster carer members. Sarah was part of a panel which included the CEOs of Adoption UK and Kinship.  

There will be some changes to our helpline opening hours over the festive period. However, there will still be support available to our members through our legal and stress support advice lines, which are open twenty-four seven.

Changes to our helpline services

• Our Member Helpline (England) will close at 3.00pm on Friday 22 December and reopen at 10.00am on Tuesday 2 January.

• Fosterline Wales will close at 12.30pm on Friday 22 December and reopen at 9.30am on Tuesday 2 January.

Foster carers in England will receive more money to cover the cost of looking after children and young people after the government announced an uplift to their allowance rates this week. 

From the next financial year there’ll be a 6.88 per cent uplift to the National Minimum Allowance for foster carers in England. The uplift, announced in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Local Government Finance Policy Statement, has been calculated based on inflation and what is affordable for local government. 

A pioneering programme which has so far prevented 194 children from entering the care system will launch in Wales this week. 

Step Up Step Down, which is run by the UK’s leading fostering charity The Fostering Network, is partnering with Pembrokeshire County Council to revolutionise the support given to families at risk of breaking down. 

Recent figures published by Ofsted show that significantly more foster carers have chosen to leave the role this year compared to the number of new joiners. 

The annual Fostering in England statistics highlight the huge pressures currently facing foster care and the urgent need for new foster carers. Numbers are continuing to decline against a backdrop of record numbers of children in need of fostering families. 

The UK’s leading fostering charity, The Fostering Network, has taken over the operation of Fosterline – a helpline which offers advice to existing and prospective foster carers in England.

As of 1 October 2023 The Fostering Network will run the service, which is commissioned by the Department for Education. The charity was awarded the two-year contract in July, taking over from current operators Foster Talk, who have run Fosterline for the past 10 years.

New data published by the UK’s leading fostering charity has revealed a postcode lottery across the UK in foster care allowances, with some children receiving over £10,000 less per year.   

The Northern Ireland Government last week announced a three per cent uplift to allowance rates for foster carers which cover the costs of caring for children and young people. While the uplift is welcome, it falls far short of the 12.43 per cent uplift announced in England earlier this year and rates across the rest of the UK.  

The Scottish Government has announced today that foster and kinship carers across Scotland will receive an updated allowance to help them care for the children and young people they look after. 

The Fostering Network has campaigned with our foster carer members for this change for many years, so we welcome this long overdue announcement today.  

The Fostering Network, the UK’s leading fostering charity, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the contract to deliver The Fosterline Service, commissioned by the Department for Education.