Money Box Live: Fostering Finance

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There are nearly 70,000 children in the UK who are in foster care.

Foster carers main concern has to be the children they look after, including many who have experienced neglect and trauma. But they are self-employed, so there are also financial considerations, from allowances and fees, to tax returns and receipts.

In this programme we'll hear from charities, foster carers and care leavers. We'll also discuss new analysis from the Fostering Network, which found foster carers face a post code lottery when it comes to fees they’re paid.

Foster carers are given an allowance to pay for clothes and food - but they're also usually paid extra on top to recognise their time and skills. Those fees aren't fixed though, and local authorities can each individually decide how much to award.

Using freedom of information requests the charity found 60% of local authorities across the UK are paying foster carers the equivalent of less than £5 an hour based on a 40 hour week. Local Authorities are given funding from central government and the devolved nations – the told us they are reviewing support for foster carers.

Felicity Hannah, is joined by Sarah Thomas, Chief Executive of The Fostering Network and Brenda Farrell, Head of Fostering at Barnardo's.

Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Sarah Rogers Editor: Jess Quayle

(This episode was first broadcast at 3pm on Weds 18th Sept 2024).

Transcript

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0:00.0	On a winter's night in 1974, a crime took place that would obsess the nation.
0:07.0	It was an extraordinary news story.
0:09.0	The story of an aristocrat, Lord Lucan, who's said to have killed the family Nanny,
0:14.0	mistaking her for his wife, then somehow just disappeared.
0:18.0	One of the great mysteries in English criminal history. We're still looking for Lucan.
0:21.6	It's honestly one of the most powerful stories of my lifetime.
0:25.6	I'm Alex von Tundselman.
0:26.6	This is The Lucan Obsession.
0:28.6	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:32.6	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:35.6	Hello, in this Moneybox Live podcast, we're looking at the finances of becoming a foster carer.
0:42.4	When a child can no longer remain in their home and with their family, they need a stable and nurturing environment.
0:48.5	For nearly 70,000 children in the UK, that's in foster care.
0:52.3	Many young people, when they first go into foster care, it can be quite traumatic.
0:57.0	I mean, I was a nice young person, but I had trauma issues.
1:01.7	Foster care's main concern has to be the children they look after, but they're self-employed,
1:06.2	so there are also financial considerations, from allowances and fees to tax returns and receipts.
1:12.3	These two young placements, they came in and they just literally had basically the clothes
1:16.4	that they were wearing. So straight away, we took them out and we just bought them a whole
1:20.8	new wardrobe. Foster carers are given an allowance to pay for clothes and food, but they're also
1:26.1	usually paid fees on top to recognise
1:28.7	their time and skills. Many of them give up work to foster full time. But those fees aren't fixed,
	...

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