POLICY AND GUIDANCE
PAYMENTS OF FEES AND ALLOWANCES TO FOSTER
CARERSFOR THE YEAR 2014-15
POLICY
Foster carers are paid sufficient allowances and agreed expenses to ensure good quality
care for the each child or young person in placement. Allowances and fees are reviewed
annually.
GUIDANCE
Payments to foster carers comprise of two elements:


Maintenance Allowance for the child
Fee for foster carer
The maintenance allowance is based on the national minimum fostering allowances
which are set at a level to cover the full cost to the foster carer of caring for an individual
child. Our regulatory duty is to ensure that we pay the minimum allowances published by
the Department for Education (DfE), England and the Welsh Assembly Government for
2014-15. We are pleased that the TACT maintenance allowances exceed the minimum
allowances recommended by these two governments
The fee for the foster carer is intended as a reward or remuneration to reflect, in part, the
skills of and time used by the foster carer. This has been revised to allow for a more
realistic allocation of fees, resulting in a more equal distribution across age bands.
STANDARD FEE TABLE
AGE
TACT MAINTENANCE
ALLOWANCE
FOSTER CARER FEE
£164.05
£205.00
£245.60
£173.00
£173.00
£173.00
0 - 10
11 - 15
16++
Amended August 2013
WEEKLY PAYMENT
£337.05
£378.00
£418.60
Page 1 of 5
SPECIAL NEEDS FEE TABLE
MAINTENANCE
ALLOWANCE
AGE
FOSTER CARER
FEE
WEEKLY PAYMENT
0 - 10
£164.05
£206.74
£370.79
11 - 15
£205.00
£210.80
£415.80
16++
£245.60
£214.86
£460.46
The fee to the foster carer is enhanced for those caring for children and young people
with special needs. This reflects the skills required and also the extra time and physical
care required for this particular group of young people.
BREAKDOWN OF MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCES
The following represents an estimate of the approximate cost of caring for the child
based on the Fostering Network guidance.
AGE
0-4
5-10
11-15
16++
FOOD
£50.86
(31%)
£47.57
(29%)
£59.45
(29%)
£63.86
(26%)
CLOTHING
TRANSPORT
£36.09
(22%)
£42.65
(26%)
£53.30
(26%)
£63.86
(26%)
£13.12
(8%)
£11.48
(7%)
£22.55
(11%)
£22.10
(9%)
PERSONAL HOUSEHOLD
£ 14.76
(9%)
£18.05
(11%)
£26.65
(13%)
£51.57
(21%)
£49.22
(30%)
£44.29
(27%)
£43.05
(21%)
£44.21
(18%)
TOTAL
£164.05
(100%)
£164.05
(100%)
£205.00
(100%)
£245.60
(100%)
TRANSPORT
This amount is to cover all direct transport arrangements for the child, such as travel to
and from school or social/leisure activities. It will also cover reasonable transport costs
associated with contact, school outings and visits and court attendance.
HOUSEHOLD
This represents the young person’s share of:
 the accommodation provided
 property, furniture and equipment maintenance costs
 the cost of utilities and other expenses associated with the house
PERSONAL ALLOWANCES
This allowance is designed to meet a variety of personal needs, as well as cover pocket
money and savings. It may be used for the older age group to cover, for instance, the cost
of hair care products, phone cards or personal telephone calls. For the younger children it
may be used to cover the cost of leisure activities such as swimming or dancing lessons,
learning a musical instrument , magazine subscriptions etc,.
Many households will want to supply personal care items (shampoo, deodorant, shaving
gear) as part of the weekly ‘shop’ or from the general housekeeping pool. There needs to
be some discussion at the outset of a placement about how much of the personal
allowance element should be spent by the carer and how much given to the child or
young person in the form of pocket money.
Amended April 2014
Page 2 of 5
Pocket money
There are two basic principles, which apply to pocket money:


There needs to be some measure of equality between children within the foster
household. Therefore, carers need to take into account the pocket money paid to
other children in the household.
The pocket money should be realistic depending on the age of the child. Children
can be encouraged to ‘save’ their pocket money to buy special items as well as for
treats such as sweets, CD’s, or games. In any event, the pocket money should not
exceed the personal allowance.
Savings
The issue of savings is of paramount importance, and has been raised by Regulatory
Inspectors, Independent Reviewing Officers and Local Authority Social Work staff.
The matter will be reviewed formally at each foster carer review. (The respective Local
Authority may choose to raise the matter at the child’s own Review).
Every foster child for whom there is a planned placement of three months or more or who
remains in placement for longer than three months must have a savings account set up
by their foster carer and the money saved should be backdated to the date of placement.
For those children who are in placement for a matter of days or weeks, a cash sum
equivalent to £10 a week should go with them when they leave the placement. The
money saved in that account is for the future needs of the child or young person, when
they move onto independence or leave care to return to their birth family.
Carers will pay into the child’s savings account on a regular basis, but at least monthly,
the equivalent of at least £10 per week at a minimum. This is the expectation of most
Local Authorities. Higher levels of saving may be required where individual Local
Authorities specify it. There is nothing to stop a foster carer saving more than the
minimum amount if they so wish.
The Personal element of the weekly maintenance allowances breakdown includes the
minimum savings of £10 for all children.
The savings account must reflect the name of the child and should be capable of being
transferred with the child on leaving placement. If it is not possible to open a savings
account in the child’s name due to the appropriate documentation not being available,
then an account should be opened in the carer’s name, and the savings placed in that
account until such time as it is possible to open an account in the child’s name.
Any tax consequences on the carer of doing so should be financially negligible and can be
met from the household element of the allowances.
It is now possible to open an account for a young person that reflects their religious
beliefs. This relates particularly to children who practice the Islam faith. Certain High
Street banks have recently advertised specific non-interest accounts, and both carers
and staff are reminded to be mindful of these when planning for savings.
Failure to open an account for a child or young person, will be discussed with the
respective TACT Area Manager, and continued failure will be reported to the Fostering
Panel, to which the carer(s) will be asked to attend and explain their reasons for noncompliance.
Amended April 2014
Page 3 of 5
Should a carer continue to refuse to open an account, the amount of savings relevant to
the child or young person’s age shall be deducted at source by TACT and an account held
centrally.
On leaving care, the savings accrued for the young person will go towards assisting them
in their move to independence. Should they return to the care of the birth family, the
money will be paid to the respective Local Authority for the young person.
Foster carers have a responsibility to prepare young people for leaving care. One priority
is to help them to learn the art of budgeting and managing their finances. It is expected
that young people approaching the age of leaving care will be encouraged to utilise their
personal allowance (which may also include some of the clothing allowance) in a way that
demonstrates their understanding of the value of money. For such young people, the
foster carer should save at a level that would provide sufficient funds to contribute
towards setting them up in their own home.
MONITORING
The Supervising Social Worker and Foster Carer should ensure that there is discussion
about pocket money and savings at the start of a placement and that this issue should be
monitored regularly throughout the duration of the placement.
The Supervising Social Worker should ensure that appropriate use is being made of the
personal allowance through regular discussion and observation. They should ensure that
they have seen the savings book periodically and also talked to the child as appropriate
to their age and understanding. All the above should be fully recorded on the child’s file.
If there is any doubt or difficulty with carrying out the above, this should be discussed
between the Foster Carer and Supervising Social Worker and their Line Manager.
CHILD AND PARENT PLACEMENTS
Guidance for Social Workers Re Child and Parent Placements made on or after 1 September
2013.
This guidance seeks to standardise the fees and allowances foster carers are paid in respect of
Child and Parent placements in as much as they can be, given the fact that each often has its
own particular circumstances and requirements. It is important for SSW’s and carers to recognise
that there may be some common features to these placements, there may be others that are
different so allowances TACT pays carers may differ between each placement as local authorities
pick and choose what elements of the allowances they fund.
Each Child and Parent placement may have its own requirements. In the case of a parent under
18 it is likely this young person will be treated as a Looked After child in terms of the allowances
they should be receiving. However if they are subject to an independence preparation programme
the local authority may wish the young adult to receive allowances similar to those they may
receive when they have left the placement.
Child and Parent placements require a different skills set from mainstream fostering placements
so in all placements where a carer has a child with a parent over 18 they will receive an
enhanced fee element for the duration of the placement.
During the planning stage prior to the placement being made, the local authority requirements
should be fully understood so it is clear what the carer and TACT will be responsible for. If this is
not possible then it must be clarified at the earliest possible point.
Amended April 2014
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Generally parents under 18 will be Looked After and carers will receive the usual level of
allowances for them and have the same obligations towards them in terms of savings and pocket
money that they would for any older teenager.
In most cases adult parents will be in receipt of their own incomes and be responsible for their
own clothing and personal expenditure therefore the weekly amounts in the fostering allowances
for clothing (£62.95) and personal (£50.84) will be deducted at source
As a consequence of the above carers will not be expected to make savings for the adult, nor will
pocket money be paid.
Parent and Child carers will receive weekly allowances for food, household and transport. It is
unlikely the parents will be eating separately and TACT is always likely to be responsible to ensure
parent get to assessments so the transport part of allowances should be maintained to this end.
Savings will be required to be made for all children placed whether their parent be a child or
adult. Carers will be expected to put unspent allowances for children into the child’s savings as
they would do with those children in mainstream placements.
Should the period of assessment end and the parent leave the carers home for whatever reason
than in most cases good child care planning would dictate that the child will remain in placement
until the longer term plan can be agreed. Once the Parent and Child placement has formally
ended the fees and allowances will revert to that which normally would be received for a carer
with a young child.
Table Showing Payments to TACT Foster Carers
Fee element for
child
Child Allowance
Subtotal
Fee element for
parent
Food
Household
Transport
Clothing
Personal
Sub Total
Total weekly
allowance
Child & Parent
Under 18
£173
Child & Parent
Over 18
£173
£164.05
£337.05
£164.05
£337.05
£173
£214.86
£63.86
£44.21
£22.10
£63.86
£51.57
£418.60
£63.86
£44.21
£22.10
£345.03
£755.65
£682.08
With child and parent placements where the carer is likely to be receiving an allowance
for both the parent and the child detailed discussion must take place at the initial
Placement Planning Meeting to clarify the financial arrangements. The above is a
guideline recommended by TACT, but there may be individual situations where different
arrangements will be made through negotiation with the local authority. Where the parent
is over 18, as a general rule parents will be expected to buy food, clothing and nappies
out of their own benefit payments, but this has to be agreed on a case by case basis.
Amended April 2014
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