Foster Care: Finance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 10 April 2026 to Question 126120, when her Department will publish further details on the scope of its in-depth study of fostering finances.
Answered by Josh MacAlister
The department plans to focus on fostering allowances, fees, as well as other financial support that carers receive, and use this to inform analysis alongside existing data on recruitment and retention.
To inform this work, more data is needed about the financial support that foster carers receive across England, and we are currently exploring routes to collect more detailed data to support this study.
Our recent Call for Evidence addressed this issue. Over 90% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the principle of improved financial transparency in England.
More broadly, we recognise the benefits of increased financial transparency and believe that clearer, more accessible information on fostering finance has the potential to improve understanding, trust, and confidence across the system.
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