A new Government pilot scheme will see seven council areas provided with funding for kinship carers.

The Kinship Zone local authorities that are due to receive allocations from the £126m funding are Bexley, Bolton, Newcastle, North East Lincolnshire, Medway, Thurrock, and Wiltshire.

According to the Government, the package will see that around 5,000 children living in kinship care are supported.

While adoptive families and foster carers receive regular financial support, the same does not currently apply to kinship carers, such as aunts, uncles, grandparents, or family friends.

However, the pilot that is scheduled to run for up to three and a half years will ensure family networks have access to tailored funding and support. It will grant kinship carers with the equivalent of foster carers’ allowances, which entails being allocated funding per child, with the wider aim of keeping more children out of the care system.

The Government has confirmed that the £126m will be delivered in the first two years of the scheme, with an evaluation in the next Spending Review to determine additional funding.

A statement today explained that the trial seeks to ‘test what works at scale in varied local contexts’, providing a learning opportunity for both councils and the Department for Education.

Jahnine Davis, National Kinship Care Ambassador, said the pilot is an ‘important milestone’ for kinship carers and children.

She added: ‘For the first time, we have a Government led initiative that will not only examine how best to provide financial support for kinship families but will also encourage local authorities to look holistically at the support they offer and adopt a genuine ‘think family’ approach.’

James Bury, Head of Policy, Research and Development at CoramBAAF, commented: ‘Through our work supporting practice and hearing directly from families, we know the challenges that kinship carers can face, as well as the challenges facing local authorities in providing consistent and fair financial support.

‘We look forward to seeing the impact of the pilots and look forward to this potentially leading to a wider roll-out to enable families across the country to benefit.’