Scottish Recommended Allowance (SRA) Review: Ministerial statement

The Scottish Government introduced the Scottish Recommended Allowance (SRA) to promote greater consistency, transparency, and fairness in the financial support provided to foster and kinship carers across Scotland. This initiative forms part of our broader commitments to Keep The Promise, tackle child poverty and reform public services, ensuring that carers are properly supported in their vital role.

The SRA was launched with an initial investment of £16 million in annual funding, which has since been increased by a further £1.9 million to uprate the allowance from 2025/26. Since its implementation, the SRA has supported over 9,000 children, helping to ensure they receive the care and resources they need to thrive. This work is central to our pledge to Keep The Promise, placing children, young people, and families at the heart of decision-making and support.

In autumn 2024, we commissioned independent research to assess the impact of the SRA and to determine whether it is delivering on its policy objectives—namely, ensuring consistency and transparency in allowance payments and guaranteeing a minimum rate of support for carers, regardless of location. This review can be accessed here: Foster and kinship carers - Scottish Recommended Allowance: implementation review - gov.scot.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to this review, including foster and kinship carers, local authorities, independent fostering agencies, third sector organisations, and members of the Lived Experience Advisory Panel. Your insights have been invaluable in shaping our understanding of the SRA’s impact and identifying areas for improvement. 

I am pleased that the findings confirm that the introduction of the SRA has been a crucial step towards improving the lives of foster and kinship carers and the children and young people in their care and has made significant progress in standardising allowance payments across Scotland. However, they also highlight areas where further work is needed to ensure equity, clarity, and adequate support for all eligible carers.

The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to working in partnership with COSLA, carers, and stakeholders to address these findings and to uphold our shared commitment to Keep The Promise. In the Annex, we have laid out the primary findings of the SRA review, and how we will ensure that these inform our wider strategic approach to foster and kinship care, including a new vision for kinship care by the end of the year. 

Natalie Don-Innes MSP
Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise

Annex: summary of next steps

Finding	Next steps
Unanimous support for the SRA to be uprated annually in line with inflation.	The Scottish Government (SG) accepts this review finding and will consider this finding in the context of our commitment to Keep The Promise, as well as broader fiscal policy and budget constraints.   A decision regarding SRA rates in 2026-27 will be made as part of the Scottish Government’s 2026-27 budget, informed by engagement with COSLA and stakeholders.
Continued concern that the age bands of the SRA are not reflective of the cost of raising a child.	The SG will reconsider the age bands in light of the initial Fraser of Allander research, the SRA review findings and the lived experiences of carers. We will engage with COSLA and work towards agreeing next steps ahead of the 2026/27 financial year.
Continued variation in allowances paid between LAs, and between LAs and IFAs.	The SRA is currently an agreement between the Scottish Government and local authorities (LAs) and is not required in legislation or enforceable on independent fostering agencies (IFAs). Nevertheless, we will consider whether further measures are required to ensure that all foster and kinship carers in Scotland receive at least the SRA, including through legislation if necessary.
Inconsistency and lack of transparency in online publication of allowance rates	We will look at how the Scottish Government can ensure that LAs meet their legal duty to publish information about the provision of kinship care assistance in their local authority area, including the rate at which allowances are paid.  We will also consider whether a legislative basis for publication of foster carer allowances is required to ensure consistency with kinship care legislation.
Need for clearer communication of SRA policy making and intent.	We will update the information available on the Scottish Government website for carers and professionals, and look at how we can improve information available on third-sector, Scottish Government funded websites.  We will consider how we can further support kinship carers, specifically considering their requests for additional information about eligibility and interaction with benefits as part of the vision for kinship care that will be published this year.
Need for a review, and increased consistency, of additional payments that are available for foster carers.	The Scottish Government commits to undertaking a review of the additional payments paid to foster carers across Scotland in partnership with COSLA and stakeholders. The timeframe for this work will be shared in a later publication detailing the work we will undertake on the ‘Future of Foster Care’ in order to Keep The Promise by 2030.
Need for a review of financial support for care leavers (Continuing Care)	We are working with our partners and stakeholders to explore improvements in the implementation of Continuing Care and broader policies to keep The Promise, to ensure that all eligible young people can equally and consistently benefit from the best support which meets their individual and developing needs as they transition into adulthood.