Agenda item
Proposal to increase the allowances and fees for Southend in-house foster carers
Report of Executive Director (Children and Public Health)
Decision:
The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director (Children and Public Health) setting out how the Council will improve the offer to prospective and existing foster carers with a new allowance and fee structure, additional benefits such as Council Tax relief and greater support and recognition for the valuable work foster carers do.
Recommended:
1. That the new fee and allowance structure for Southend-on-Sea foster carers, be approved.
2. That the introduction of the additional allowances, as set out in the submitted report, be approved.
3. That Southend-on-Sea approved foster carers who foster a Southend-on-Sea child for at least 26 weeks of the year receive Council Tax relief up to Band D (if they live in Band E or above, they will get relief up to Band D) from 1st April 2023.
4. That funding for a new 1 FTE Fostering Panel Advisor, be approved.
5. That mileage payments for costs associated with the child, be approved.
Reasons for recommendation:
1. Improving the offer to foster carers will make it more appealing and more competitive and will help attract new carers to join the Council and reduce the current reliance on the external IFA market, whilst also reducing expenditure pressure on external placements. More importantly, it will ensure foster carers have the support they need to achieve the best outcomes for children in the Council’s care.
2. Demand for foster carers significantly outstrips the current supply so the Council needs to ensure that it has a robust offer to attract and retain sufficient local foster carers. All local authorities find it a significant challenge to recruit and retain foster carers but other neighbouring local authorities currently perform better than the Council.
3. Increasing the number of in-house foster carers is more affordable. The proposed new offer will have average cost of £26,000 per child per year. The current average cost of an IFA is £50,000 per annum and the current cost of an average residential placement is £220,000 per annum (excluding the extremely high cost complex packages) and supported accommodation is £42,000 per annum.
4. It is anticipated that the new offer will increase the number of in-house foster carers, from an August 2022 baseline, by 69 additional foster carers by September 2025.
Other options:
1. Do nothing and maintain the current fees and allowances structure. However, if there is no change to the current offer the Council will continue to lose more foster carers and recruitment will continue to be challenging resulting in further use of the private, voluntary and independent market. This would mean the Council failing in its statutory sufficiency duty that requires local authorities to take steps to secure, so far as reasonably practicable, sufficient accommodation with the authority’s area to meet the needs of children that are in the Council’s care.
2. To only increase allowances by the recommended amount to support with the increased cost of living but remove any fees. The Council is only required to pay foster carers minimum allowances to cover the costs of caring for the child they foster, not fees, which are provided to the foster carer to reflect the work they do to support children in the Council’s care. This would likely result in a loss of a significant portion of the in-house foster carers and make the Council even less competitive than other foster care providers including IFA and neighbouring local authorities. This will make it very difficult to attract new foster carers to the Council.
Note: This is a Council Function
Eligible for call-in to: Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee
Cabinet Member: Cllr Burton
Minutes:
The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director (Children and Public Health) setting out how the Council will improve the offer to prospective and existing foster carers with a new allowance and fee structure, additional benefits such as Council Tax relief and greater support and recognition for the valuable work foster carers do.
Recommended:
1. That the new fee and allowance structure for Southend-on-Sea foster carers, be approved.
2. That the introduction of the additional allowances, as set out in the submitted report, be approved.
3. That Southend-on-Sea approved foster carers who foster a Southend-on-Sea- child for at least 26 weeks of the year receive Council Tax relief up to Band D (if they live in Band E or above, they will get relief up to Band D) from 1st April 2023.
4. That funding for a new 1 FTE Fostering Panel Advisor, be approved.
5. That mileage payments for costs associated with the child, be approved.
Reasons for recommendation:
1. Improving the offer to foster carers will make it more appealing and more competitive and will help attract new carers to join the Council and reduce the current reliance on the external IFA market, whilst also reducing expenditure pressure on external placements. More importantly, it will ensure foster carers have the support they need to achieve the best outcomes for children in the Council’s care.
2. Demand for foster carers significantly outstrips the current supply so the Council needs to ensure that it has a robust offer to attract and retain sufficient local foster carers. All local authorities find it a significant challenge to recruit and retain foster carers but other neighbouring local authorities currently perform better than the Council.
3. Increasing the number of in-house foster carers is more affordable. The proposed new offer will have average cost of £26,000 per child per year. The current average cost of an IFA is £50,000 per annum and the current cost of an average residential placement is £220,000 per annum (excluding the extremely high cost complex packages) and supported accommodation is £42,000 per annum.
4. It is anticipated that the new offer will increase the number of in-house foster carers, from an August 2022 baseline, by 69 additional foster carers by September 2025.
Other options:
1. Do nothing and maintain the current fees and allowances structure. However, if there is no change to the current offer the Council will continue to lose more foster carers and recruitment will continue to be challenging resulting in further use of the private, voluntary and independent market. This would mean the Council failing in its statutory sufficiency duty that requires local authorities to take steps to secure, so far as reasonably practicable, sufficient accommodation with the authority’s area to meet the needs of children that are in the Council’s care.
2. To only increase allowances by the recommended amount to support with the increased cost of living but remove any fees. The Council is only required to pay foster carers minimum allowances to cover the costs of caring for the child they foster, not fees, which are provided to the foster carer to reflect the work they do to support children in the Council’s care. This would likely result in a loss of a significant portion of the in-house foster carers and make the Council even less competitive than other foster care providers including IFA and neighbouring local authorities. This will make it very difficult to attract new foster carers to the Council.
Note: This is a Council Function
Eligible for call-in to: Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee
Cabinet Member: Cllr Burton
Supporting documents:
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Report of Executive Director (Children and Public Health), item 465.
PDF 134 KB -
Appendix 1 - Case for Change Southend on Sea In-House Fostering, item 465.
PDF 302 KB
