In November 2025, we launched the next stage of our #CostOfFostering campaign, calling for foster carers across England to be exempt from paying council tax. To support the campaign, we have developed a briefing highlighting the benefits of council tax exemptions on retention and recruitment foster carers, along with evidence of the positive impact local authorities are seeing from implementing it. The briefing also includes a support sheet for local authorities looking to implement the policy with top tips from others.
In July 2025, the UK Government released a consultation which set out the Government’s proposals to review council tax disregards or exemptions. We responded to the consultation asking for all foster carers in England to be exempt.
In the Government’s response to the consultation, it highlighted the ask for foster carers to be exempt however, it stated that individual councils have the power to provide discounts or disregards to certain households where they consider this appropriate. Therefore, unfortunately they will not be providing a national exemption.
However, in the Governments draft guidance for fostering services, under Chapter 3, Supporting Fostering Families, it states that:
“Fostering services should review the financial support they offer annually, including allowances, expenses, wider incentives (such as council tax discounts or exemptions) and the fees they pay to foster carers.”
We are pleased to see council tax discounts and exemptions explicitly referenced within the guidance, marking a significant success for the campaign so far.
We will keep pushing and working with local authorities to lead the way.