Foster and kinship carers - Scottish Recommended Allowance: implementation review

Introduction

Background

In 2019, the Scottish Government committed in its Programme for Government to work with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to introduce a Scottish Recommended Allowance (SRA) for foster and kinship carers; this was re-stated in The Promise Implementation Plan 2021-24.

On 29 August 2023, following negotiation with COSLA, agreement was reached and the Scottish Government introduced the SRA. This marked the first time a set rate, which all local authorities must pay to foster and kinship carers, was introduced across Scotland.

In October 2024, the Scottish Government commissioned independent research to collect data on the implementation of the Scottish Recommended Allowance for Foster and Kinship Carers (SRA). The aim of the work was to collect data on whether the implementation of the SRA had achieved (or was starting to achieve) its policy intent, by bringing consistency and transparency to the allowances paid to foster and kinship carers, and ensuring that all caregivers, no matter where they live, receive at least a set rate to cover the costs of the child[ren] they are looking after.

This report presents the findings from that work and will be used to feed into the overall evaluation of the SRA, to understand the impact for foster and kinship families, inform adjustments to delivery and help with design and development of future policy in the field.

The Scottish Recommended Allowance for Foster and Kinship Carers

The introduction of the SRA sought to ensure that every eligible foster and kinship carer would receive at least a standard, national allowance which recognises the valuable support they provide, and ensures that children in foster and kinship care get the support they need to thrive. It also sought to ensure parity in the financial support provided to kinship and foster carers, no matter where they live in Scotland. The SRA was forecast to benefit over 9,000 children and result in an uplift in most kinship and foster carers’ finances to help them cover the costs of caring for children. Its introduction was a significant achievement and contributes to the Scottish Government’s commitment to Keeping The Promise, and wider priorities to reduce child poverty.

While Scottish Ministers have the option to legislate to require local authorities to adhere to the SRA using powers under The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (Section 110), this power was not used and instead a collaborative approach with COSLA was taken to introducing the SRA. As such, local authorities were not legally required to pay the SRA and its implementation was an agreement between COSLA and Scottish Government.

At the launch of the SRA, Scottish Government and COSLA also agreed that local authorities would publish online their allowances for foster and kinship carers. This was to include key details of rates, entitlement, eligibility criteria, how it would be assessed and where more information could be found. In addition, there was also a legal duty under Part 13 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (Support for Kinship Care) and The Kinship Care Assistance (Scotland) Order 2016 for local authorities to publish information about the provision of kinship care assistance in their local authority area, including the rate at which allowances are paid.

COSLA also agreed that where local authorities were already paying above the SRA, allowances would not be reduced, so that kinship or foster carers currently in receipt of an allowance would not be worse off.

Importantly, the SRA is an agreement between the Scottish Government and local authorities to ensure equity in the allowances paid for looked after children across Scotland to foster and kinship carers.

Similarly, the placement of children by local authorities, with external agencies, is a contracted agreement between the local authority and agency. By their nature, independent fostering agencies (IFAs) have always been able to decide both the allowance and fee they pay their foster carers, and the responsibility for payment of the allowance to foster carers sits with the IFA, not the local authority. Consequently, any discussion regarding the implementation of the SRA in IFAs is a contractual matter. Given this, and the fact that Scottish Government did not legislate to require local authorities to adhere to the SRA, it was not and is not enforceable on IFAs.

Placement of children with IFAs by local authorities can be made via the Scotland Excel (or other) framework but also by the local authorities' own contracts or occasionally on a spot purchased basis. They are therefore covered by the terms of that contract. Contracts will have a weekly rate inclusive of various costs - including child’s allowance, fees, management fees and additional items. Discussions as to how the SRA is reflected in contracts between local authorities and IFAs are currently (and were at the time of the SRA launch) the responsibility of those two parties.

Recognising the complexity and diversity of the foster and kinship arrangements in Scotland, information regarding the allowance rates for different age bands and what the SRA monies were intended to cover was set out after its launch on the Scottish Government website alongside other information for carers and professionals (at Scottish Recommended Allowance: information for carers and professionals - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). This, alongside the information provided by local authorities, IFAs and various third sector organisations working with and for carers in Scotland provides the main source of current information regarding the SRA.

Research Questions

While the overarching aims of the research were to explore if the SRA has helped to bring consistency and transparency to the allowances paid to foster and kinship carers, and whether it had resulted in local authority foster and eligible kinship carers receiving at least the SRA, the data collection also focused on gathering feedback to address ten key research questions, these being:

• Do carers and professionals know where to find information about the SRA?
• Is it clear that the SRA is to pay for the costs of the child and does not cover foster carers’ fees?
• Is there any additional information that it would be helpful for Scottish Government to publish centrally (e.g. interaction with benefits, annual allowance rates for all local authorities)?
• Are individual local authorities paying the SRA or above the SRA?
• Do the current allowance rates at each SRA age band reflect the needs of the child at that age?
• Should there continue to be four SRA age bands, or is an alternative approach to banding more appropriate?
• How many kinship carers are impacted by how the SRA interacts in practice with both Scottish and Reserved Social Security benefits?
• Do stakeholders hold the view that the Scottish Government should legislate for the SRA to ensure consistency and transparency of allowances in Scotland?
• How has the implementation of the SRA affected the contracts between local authorities and independent fostering agencies and how do IFA allowances compare to the SRA?
• What is the distribution of foster and kinship carers in Scotland, and are more foster and kinship carers receiving the SRA residing in areas of high deprivation, measured by the SIMD, than in areas of affluence?

The methodology for the work was designed with these research questions in mind.

Methodology

Data collection to inform the review was carried out over a four-month period between December 2024 and March 2025 and included:

• an online survey of all local authorities in Scotland;
• an online survey and interviews/discussions with independent fostering agencies (IFAs);
• interviews with third sector organisations and other stakeholders with an interest in the SRA review;
• online surveys of foster and kinship carers living in Scotland, with separate surveys developed for each type of carer; and
• follow-up interviews with a sample of foster and kinship carers to explore their experiences of the SRA in more detail.

The research was designed to be carried out in a phased way, so that findings from the earlier stages of the work would help to inform development of data collection tools for the subsequent phases.

Local Authority Survey

The survey of local authorities was designed by the research team with input from Scottish Government policy staff. Advice on the content and method of distribution was also sought from Social Work Scotland and COSLA through informal discussions. The survey contained 30 questions including a mix of both open ‘free text’ questions and closed ‘tick box’ questions and was designed using the online survey tool Smart Survey, with emailed Word versions and printed copies available on request.

The online survey link was distributed initially via Social Work Scotland to Chief Social Work Officers in each of the 32 local authorities, as well as invitations being sent directly by the researchers to Chief Social Work Officers or other nominated staff. The survey was open for a total of 10 weeks between late November 2024 and early February 2025 and a total of 30 responses were received (including eight responses which were submitted by email). All data were downloaded for analysis and merged with information collated via desk-based research in relation to pre-SRA rates^[2] and information published online by local authorities about their current fostering and kinship allowances and rates^[3].

Independent Fostering Agency Survey and Interviews

The online IFA survey was developed in collaboration with the Scottish Government and following consultation with two IFA representative organisations. It went live in early December 2024 with an initial deadline two weeks later. Based on low levels of uptake, and to accommodate the festive period, a decision was made to extend the deadline for responses until mid- January 2025.

The survey link was distributed directly to all IFAs identified by the Scottish Government where a dedicated email address was available, via the Nationwide Association of Fostering Providers (NAFP) to relevant organisations, and via The Fostering Network to their independent sector forum members. Invitations were staggered to act as a reminder to all previous invitees and to potentially reach new/different participants.

A total of five IFA survey responses were received. This was complemented by interviews with three representative organisations and a short mini-group discussion with IFA staff.

Third Sector Organisations and Other Stakeholder Interviews

Interviews were carried out with 10 third sector organisations (TSOs) who either worked directly with or on behalf of foster and kinship carers or care professionals, as well as with one care policy improvement organisation working in partnership with carers, social workers, local authorities and aligned professionals. These interviews were carried out online or in person. Interviewees were invited to share their views and experiences of the impact of the SRA on their own organisations and on those who they worked with or represented.

More informal input and advice was sought at various points in the research from representatives of COSLA and Social Work Scotland. This was largely in the planning stages of the research to discuss the best ways of maximising engagement from local authorities and what the focus on the local authority survey should be. Scotland Excel also engaged in discussion to provide clarity on the operation of the national framework to provide context for feedback from other respondents.

Foster and Kinship Carer Surveys

Two separate surveys were developed in collaboration with the Scottish Government - one for foster carers and another for kinship carers. There was a high level of consistency in the questions asked across the two questionnaires, although dedicated questions were also asked of each respondent type. The survey of foster carers contained 45 substantive questions, while the kinship carer survey contained 42 questions in total. Both included a mix of open free text questions and closed response questions, and were made available for completion online using Smart Survey (with paper and email versions available on request).

The surveys were distributed primarily via local and national kinship and fostering support organisations who shared the survey link with their respective members. The researchers also asked for the survey link to be shared with carers via local authorities and IFAs who took part in the parallel surveys. The survey was also shared via word of mouth among carers as well as attendance of the researchers at a carers event to raise awareness.

The survey ran for a total of six weeks between January and February 2025 and a total of 271 carers provided a substantive and usable response, including 137 foster carers and 134 kinship carers (all submitted online).

Responses came from across the country, with the sample distribution by geographic region outlined in Appendix A. Although all responses were anonymised, respondents were asked to provide their postcode in order to identify which Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) area they resided in. There was considerable diversity in the sample achieved, with reasonably balanced representation from carers living in each of the different SIMD zones (with Quintile 1 in the table below representing the most deprived 20% of data zones and Quintile 5 representing the least deprived 20% of data zones).

The majority of foster carers who took part were local authority foster carers (n=125, 91%) with most others reporting that they fostered via an IFA (n=11, 8%). One person (1%) indicated that they fostered via another authority area, but did not specify whether this was through the local authority or an IFA.

Most kinship carers who took part (n=86, 64%) indicated that they were a carer for a looked after child[ren] (i.e. with a compulsory supervision order or permanence order), while 30% (n=40) were kinship carers for a non-looked after child[ren] (i.e. with a Section 11 Order). The remaining respondents (n=8, 6%) included four with residency orders, two with Section 25 Orders, one who said they had a non-looked after child and were in the process of applying for a Section 11 Order, and one respondent who cared for more than one child in different circumstances (and included both looked after and non-looked after status).

Most foster carers had 11+ years of experience in foster care, with a further quarter having 6-10 years’ experience. The number of years that kinship carers had been providing such care was more varied.

Note: One respondent did not answer the question

The average number of children being cared for by individual foster carers was 1.9, with a wide range in the maximum and minimum being cared for by any one respondent - responses were received from a small number of foster carers who had no current placements through to those who had five or more children currently in their care (excluding their own biological children). The average number of children being cared for by individual kinship carers was slightly lower, at 1.4. This ranged from those who looked after one child, up to those caring for five children.

Foster and Kinship Carer Interviews

A total of 20 kinship carer interviews and 20 foster carer interviews were carried out to gather a deeper insight into the lived experiences of those receiving the SRA. Interviewees were recruited mainly via the surveys, (i.e. individuals were given a chance to ‘opt in’ to a follow-up interview if they wanted to share their experiences in more detail) as well as via word of mouth among the carer community. The sample of carers was split across the country with both long- and short- term carers represented, as well as male and female carers, and families caring for between one and five children (excluding their own biological children). The ages of carers also ranged from 28 to 68.

All interviews were carried out by telephone and lasted an average of 30 minutes (ranging from 16 to 46 minutes). Interview fieldwork took place throughout February and March 2025. Bespoke topic guides were developed to guide the discussions and respondents were also invited to share any wider feedback, issues or concerns on the SRA. All interviewees also received a small ‘thank you’ voucher to reimburse them for their time.

Finally, a Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) made up of five current carers was also established at the start of the research. This group was consulted at key stages in the research to help guide development of data collection tools with carers. They helped to design and test the online surveys as well as to inform and test the carer interview schedules.

Caveats and Reporting Conventions

The surveys attracted variable levels of response. Although the overall response to the carers surveys was strong, it is not possible to know what proportion of carers the respondents represent as the full population of foster and kinship carers is not known (especially when considering that some registered foster carers will be currently working and in receipt of the SRA while others will not, and some kinship carers will be officially registered as such and some will not). As local authorities, third sector organisations and IFAs used a mix of different means of reaching carers, it is also not possible to know how many of the overall fostering and kinship population in Scotland will have received the invitation and thus had an opportunity to contribute. Some local authorities confirmed distribution to carers in their areas, for example, while others did not.

While reasonable regional coverage was achieved, no individual responses were received from carers living in three authorities. As not all local authorities were represented in terms of carer experiences, the findings cannot be considered as providing comprehensive geographical coverage and this is acknowledged as a gap in the work.

All surveys, including the carer survey, were completed on a voluntary ‘opt in’ basis and, again, this can mean some inherent bias in the sample, as those who took part are more likely to have been those with strong views to share (i.e. those with neutral or moderate views or those who feel unaffected by policy changes are less likely to engage in research). This may account for disproportionate balance towards negative feedback that was received, however, the views expressed are no less valid as a result.

While the foster and kinship carer surveys generated significant interest, there was less uptake from IFAs. Anecdotal feedback during the fieldwork suggested that this may be because IFAs felt they had not been sufficiently consulted on the SRA before its introduction and so were ‘disengaged’ with any post-implementation attempts at engagement. There were also views that low engagement may have been due to the SRA having only marginal impact on IFAs to date, and therefore IFAs having little by way of feedback to provide. Although the number of IFAs who contributed to the work was small, the depth of feedback given was nonetheless strong, and those who contributed represented different perspectives in terms of the nature and scale of the organisations that they spoke on behalf of.

For local authorities, although the overall survey response was high (with only two authorities not responding), the findings cannot be considered as fully representative. Similarly, given the unique geographies, demographic profiles and administrations of all individual authorities, findings cannot be generalised across the whole local authority sample. There was also significant variation in the level of detail provided by local authority respondents in different areas.

Importantly, the local authority survey did not ask for either pre-SRA rates or current rates to be provided as these data were either already held by the Scottish Government (i.e. rates being paid as of August 2023) or should be published online as part of the SRA agreement. This led to gaps where information could not be independently located online. Even where information was available online, this was not always clearly labelled as being ‘current’, and in some cases it was not clear if the rates shown were inclusive or exclusive of deductions for social security benefits (which would apply to kinship carers^[4]). This may affect the accuracy of data presented in this report, including some of the comparisons that are made between rates paid pre- and post-SRA.

To support understanding of the qualitative findings, the following report uses descriptive terms to identify the strength of feeling expressed by respondents. Where reference is made in the report to ‘few’ respondents, this relates to five or fewer respondents. The terms ‘several’ and ‘some’ refer to more than five respondents, but typically less than ten. Any qualitative views that were expressed by larger numbers of respondents (i.e. ten or more) are referred to throughout as being expressed by ‘many’. Similarly, for the survey, while specific numbers and proportions are presented below in most cases, any references to ‘few’ typically refer to <10% of the sampled population, ‘several’ and ‘some’ refer to >10% but typically less than 50%, and ‘many’ refer to >50% of the relevant sample.

For survey data, tables in the following chapters show both the number and proportion of respondents who concurred with the different response options presented. Where ‘non-responses’ were observed, tables also show the ‘valid percent’ (i.e. the proportion who expressed views for each response option once the non-responses were removed). This gives a more accurate account of the strength of feeling among those who did answer the set questions.

Finally, to protect anonymity and confidentiality, and to encourage honest responding, reassurances were given to all survey and interview respondents that they would not be identifiable in the reporting of the work. As a result, all local authority, third sector and IFA names have been removed and aggregate level data is presented. This means that some of the nuance for local arrangements is lost. However, where specific comments were made which suggested notable regional or other variation from the main findings reported, these are included.