House of Commons · Westminster Hall
06 March 2024 · 13 other contributors · 10,455 words
Opened by Alistair Strathern Lab Hitchin
Responding minister: David Johnston
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
Alistair Strathern raised concerns about kinship care strategy in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.
Key points
Key requests to Government
The lead MP asks the government to introduce statutory pay and leave on par with adoption, commit to pilots that can be rolled out quickly without delay, and consider primary legislation for formal legal definitions. He urges for urgent action to ensure young people receive support now rather than years down the line.
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.
Opened the debate
The MP is concerned about the challenges faced by kinship carers, including financial barriers and lack of consistent local authority support. He mentions specific cases such as Karen and Angela who face difficulties in providing care for their young family members at crucial times. The MP also notes that over a third of local authorities do not have policies in place to support kinship care as required by legislation.
Chaired the all-party parliamentary group on kinship care, highlighting the importance of love in becoming a kinship carer. Criticised special guardianship orders for leaving carers unsupported in legal battles. Advocated for consistent support across local authorities and recognised the need for kinship parental leave.
Mr Selous highlighted the discrepancy between England and New Zealand regarding children in care, noting that only 15% of English children in care are placed in kinship care compared to 57% in New Zealand. He urged the Minister to consider adopting practices from New Zealand such as family group conferences for their legal weight and utility. Constituents have expressed concerns about a lack of accurate information regarding entitlements, including child tax credits and nursery places. Additionally, there is worry over the costs associated with special guardianship orders and the urgency of financial parity with foster carers.
Welcomed the Government's strategy for kinship care, highlighting its focus on financial support and education. Noted gaps in information about accessing virtual school heads' support and the need for deeper integration between local authorities, schools, and kinship carers to ensure consistent help for children under special guardianship orders.
Kinship carers in Putney have financial and legal challenges. A survey found 12% of kinship carers were concerned about having to stop caring for their children if conditions do not improve. Anderson highlights the need for statutory paid leave, equalisation of allowances with foster families, and a lack of consensus among local authorities regarding kinship care.
Kinship carers play a critical role in communities by caring for children when parents cannot. In the north-east, around one in 50 children are growing up with kinship care, with over half being looked after by grandparents. Morris supports the call for a mandatory non-means-tested allowance for all kinship carers at least equivalent to the national minimum fostering allowance. Asked about the eligibility criteria for the eight pilot authorities receiving additional support through the foster care allowance equivalent, highlighting the disparity in support across different areas.
Paid tribute to kinship carers for their love and support, noting the challenges they face due to a lack of systematic support across the country. Emphasised the need for legislative action to define kinship care legally and ensure local authorities implement existing guidance effectively.
Mr Byrne highlighted the challenges faced by kinship carers in Liverpool, noting that over 75% of them entered the cost-of-living crisis in severe financial hardship. He praised the Kinship Charter developed by Pauline Thornley and her team as a groundbreaking achievement for kinship carers. Mr Byrne called on the Minister to commit to legislating and funding financial support for kinship families equivalent to that provided to foster and adoptive families, offering statutory pay and leave for kinship carers akin to adoption benefits.
Mr Shannon provided a Northern Ireland perspective on the kinship care strategy. He noted that in March 2023, there were 3,801 children and young people recorded as being in care in Northern Ireland, which is the highest number since 1995. Mr Shannon questioned whether foster carers received an adequate increase in their allowance compared to kinship foster carers and asked for clarification on how the £9 million investment will be utilized for training and support for all kinship carers.
Acknowledged his long-standing work with kinship carers in County Durham. Emphasised the need for a clear legal status and integration into the benefits system to ensure automatic payment of benefits. Highlighted the importance of local support units like the one in Durham, which provides financial assistance but often only temporarily. Urged the government to invest in kinship care as a long-term strategy.
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech regarding the challenges faced by kinship care households in her constituency, which has the highest proportion of such households in England. Many children raised in these homes have experienced loss and trauma; hence, more support for those children and spaces for them to socialise with peers are necessary.
Ms Wilson praised campaigners for their work on kinship care and acknowledged the publication of a strategy as a milestone. However, she criticised the strategy's limited ambition and pointed out that only eight local authorities will participate in a pilot programme with strict eligibility criteria. She highlighted significant financial savings by placing children in kinship care rather than foster care, urging the Minister to broaden the scope of the pilot scheme. Furthermore, Ms Wilson emphasised the importance of addressing employment support issues and called for statutory pay or leave. Inquired whether the Government would address the issue of pupil premium plus and priority admissions for children in kinship care, pointing out that such benefits are available to looked-after children but not kinship children.
Paid tribute to local kinship carers and the #ValueOurLove campaign, highlighting concerns about cuts to respite care. Emphasised the need for bereavement support and counselling services for kinship carers. Welcomed the first kinship care strategy but called for systematic funding beyond pilots.
The hon. Gentleman is congratulated on securing this debate on an important subject concerning undervalued individuals in society. It is suggested that kinship carers need legal clarification regarding their status and the options available to them, such as special guardianship orders, family fostering, etc., which should be backed by law.
Government Response
David JohnstonIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. I cannot possibly do justice to the debate and all the points that were raised, and certainly not to the fantastic role that all kinship carers play. People who have been in such debates before have heard me talk about the fact that my first experience of the subject came many years ago, when I mentored a nine-year-old boy who had to be removed from his parents and was put with his nan. She totally transformed his life, and, as everybody has said, did so out of love—certainly not for money. It was to prevent him going into care and taking other bad directions in life. That was my first experience of the issue, which is why I was so excited for us to publish the first strategy before the end of the year. Starting with the financial allowance, we know from the many conversations we have with kinship carers that nobody expects to take on the role when they do. We have announced a pathfinder programme for eight local authorities, which will provide special guardian kinship carers with financial support. However, we have not chosen the eight yet. On virtual school heads, while some children in kinship arrangements have already been able to benefit from education entitlements and support, one of the constant conversations I have with kinship carers is that at times they find it very difficult to get the school to engage with them. Even though they are acting as the parent, they do not get the same conversations and treatment that a parent would get. That is why we announced £3.8 million to expand the role of virtual school heads to children in kinship care. All children in kinship care arrangements will get that, regardless of their status. On kinship leave, we recognise the challenge many kinship carers face when continuing to work alongside the pressures of taking in and raising a child at an unexpected moment. We continue to explore what we can do. We have published guidance for employers, as some hon. Members have mentioned, to better support kinship carers in work. Some employers are already doing that. The Department for Education will give kinship leave to its staff who are kinship carers and we expect other Government Departments to do similarly in the coming weeks and months. On training and support, which was raised by several hon. Members, we announced a £1.6 million extension to our peer support funding, which will be delivered from July. It will mean that all kinship carers, regardless of their care order, will be able to network and learn from each other until the end of March 2026. Following the progress and positive impact that the peer-to-peer support contract has already made, we have committed to delivering a package of training and support that all kinship carers across England can access. We were pleased to confirm that the charity Kinship will be the training partner and that training is on track to be delivered from spring 2024. On the definition of kinship care, we are proud to have published the first Government definition of a kinship carer. This year, we will implement that in statutory guidance to improve understanding and awareness from practitioners about what kinship care is. We also asked the Law Commission to review and simplify the framework for kinship care status. On inconsistent support from local authorities, we are publishing an updated version of the family and friends guidance this spring, and we will be monitoring compliance. This year, we will recruit the first-ever national kinship care ambassador to advocate for kinship carers and work directly with local authorities to improve services. We are creating a board of sector experts, in addition to our kinship carer reference group, to advise me on priorities for future funding and policy development.