Increase in fees for foster carers in Leicestershire

FOSTER carers in Leicestershire are benefitting from an increase in the amount they receive in fees.

Changes to payments paid to Leicestershire County Council’s in-house carers came into force this month and are part of plans to boost recruitment and simplify the way carers can progress.

The council desperately needs to recruit new carers to cope with an increase in the number of children in its care and help it reduce the amount it spends on agency foster carers.

Coun Ivan Ould, cabinet member for children and families, said: “We know foster carers’ primary motivation is to support children and young people, but we also recognise that fostering needs to be financially viable for people.

“Our carers do a fantastic job and we recognise their skills and knowledge which is why, following this consultation, we have developed our specialist schemes and increased the support and training available to them to enable our more challenging / high needs placements to be placed in house.

“The truth is, however, that we need to recruit more foster carers to look after our children and young people.”

There are currently more than 550 of children in care in Leicestershire and this is forecast to increase to more than 750 by March 2022. It costs an additional £12,500 per child per annum when the council needs to use a fostering agency.

Prospective foster carers can visit www. fosteringleicestershire. com or call 0116 305 0505 for more information.