Allowances and expenses

Allowance and expenses

Being a foster carer is one of the most rewarding things you could do in your life but we recognise there are extra costs involved in caring for a child. With this in mind, we offer the following competitive financial package plus all of the support, training and guidance you would expect from an Ofsted Outstanding provider.

The allowances cover the following costs of caring for a child or young person:

Weekly allowance for a single child as of 1 April 2024

• food and everyday expenses
• clothes
• pocket money, clubs and activities. If the child takes part in a more expensive activity, the fostering service will consider covering this cost.
• day trips, including school trips.
• transporting children to school within a three-mile radius. Any school commutes that fall outside of this will be paid by the service.

Plus you’ll receive additional payments to help the child enjoy the following:

• Christmas or another religious festival
• birthdays
• holidays

Retention payment:

We reward our foster carers with an annual retention bonus to show our appreciation.

• after one year = £500
• after five years = £1,000
• after 10 years = £2,000

Examples of allowances for our foster carers

To give you an idea of the allowances that we pay in different circumstances, we’ve put together some examples below:

Jane, 57

Jane fosters teenagers and has been fostering forjust over a year. She currently has Matthew, 17 living with her on a long term-basis. Matthew has noadditional needs and goes to college full-time to study catering where he is doing brilliantly. Matthew recently got a part time job working in a restaurant and is saving for his first car. Jane receives £1,256 a month (£289.96 a week), tax-free. As she has also recently completed her first year as a foster carer, she has also received her first tax-free retention payment of £500. Jane also received an additional payment of £289.96 to buy Matthew birthday presents and again at Christmas Jane received £289.96 to buy Matthew some Christmas gifts. Jane also receives paid expenses, for example she received .45p per mile for taking Matthew to see his family once a month.

Rob, 68 and Emily, 63 

Rob and Emily have been foster carers for 5 years and they like to foster children on a task-centred basis.

They have recently welcomed brothers Jack, 11 and Liam, 8 to their home. They’ll receive an allowance of £1,864.54 a month (£430.28 a week), and because they’ve been foster carers for five years, they’ll receive an annual retention payment of £1,000, all tax-free. Jack and Liam are talented footballers, they attend an academy in Nottingham twice a week. Rob enjoys taking the boys to the academy and especially enjoys match days, Rob can claim .45p per mile meaning he gets an additional £68.40 per week. Rob and Emily also received £50 per child towards the cost of the boys training kits. Liam will be turning 9 in a few weeks so Rob and Emily received an additional £191.80 to help with the costs of this, naturally Liam is having a football themed birthday party and will be surprised with a stadium tour. Jack starts secondary school in September, so Rob and Emily have been given £250 to purchase a school uniform for him.

At Christmas the carers are taking the boys to Lapland, this is a one-off holiday experience for the boys so the team manager agreed an exceptional payment of £300 per child towards the cost of this trip. They carers will also receive £430.20 towards the costs associated with Christmas.

Mary, 46 

Mary is a parent and child foster carer based in Boston and was recently approved at Panel. She is preparing to welcome her first parent and child placement, Samera, 16 and her son Yusef, 1. Mary will receive a setting up payment of £440 to help her get her spare bedroom ready with a bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and some bedding. We will also provide Samera and Mary with a starting allowance of £378 for extra equipment such as a cot, bouncing cradle, a potty and bottles.

When she welcomes Samera and Yusef, she’ll receive a tax-free allowance of £2,837.72 a month (£654.86 a week) Mary plans to attend playgroup sessions with them and will receive an additional payment of £100 a month. The playgroup sessions take place in Sleaford and Mary will receive .45p per mile as part of her expenses.

Samera celebrates Eid and Mary will receive a religious festival grant of £168.71 to buy gifts and help them celebrate.

Ian, 32

Ian is a foster carer to Aaron, 6, who has additional needs and they live in North Hykeham. Aaron has autism and has just started a new specialist school in Lincolnshire. He’ll receive a school uniform allowance of £100 and an additional £50 for his karate club uniform, and an additional £50 for a safety helmet.

Ian qualifies for a specific child rate due to Aaron’s needs and will receive a tax-free allowance of £1,329.91 a month (303.48 a week).

Aaron has a special interest in everything Disney. Ian plans to take Aaron on his first holiday to Disneyland Paris in a few months. Ian will receive £300 to make this life-long memory possible. 

Ian has family time contact weekly with his brother in Louth and his sister in Gainsborough. Aaron also has to attend regular paediatric appointments due to his needs. Ian will receive £111.60 a month in mileage expenses.

Pocket money (included in the weekly allowances)

You should advise the child of the amount of pocket money they will receive. The amount will vary according to age.

Pocket money is for items beyond normal household items. Depending on age, this could be sweets, make-up, toys, computer games and the purchase of gifts for family and friends.

It is expected that children aged 11 and over will contribute towards expensive hobbies and clubs.

You should put any money not given directly to the child in a savings account.

Guidance for recommended pocket money rates (payable from allowance):

Personal allowances

This allowance is designed to meet a variety of personal needs and 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. Your child or young person may wish to take up a hobby or activity such as horse riding, so some of this could contribute to that.

Children who work

Whilst young people are in education this should be their priority. However, the child’s social worker may agree that it is appropriate for a child to have a part-time job. They should be encouraged to save this money or part of it. In most cases, a bank account should be set up for them. You should discuss this with the child’s social worker.

When a child is in full-time employment, individual discussions should take place with the social worker and young person regarding their financial responsibilities to the placement.

For a few young people, the Staying Put scheme allows them to remain in their foster placement post 18 years of age. The scheme has its own financial guidelines. Young people should discuss with the scheme co-ordinator to decide how finances will be accessed.