Young carers have been a hidden cohort for too long. They provide essential care and support to their loved ones, often stepping up in challenging situations at the expense of their own development and wellbeing.

The department is using school census data to shine a light on young carers’ attendance, suspensions and exclusions, and is aiming to publish data on their educational progress and attainment this autumn. This will ensure they receive tailored support and do not miss out on vital educational opportunities.

The statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ requires designated safeguarding leads to undergo training to provide them with the knowledge and skills to carry out their role. This includes having a good understanding of, and alertness to, the needs of young carers to identify their needs.

Young carers have been a hidden cohort for too long. They provide essential care and support to their loved ones, often stepping up in challenging situations at the expense of their own development and wellbeing.

The department is using school census data to shine a light on young carers’ attendance, suspensions and exclusions, and is aiming to publish data on their educational progress and attainment this autumn. This will ensure they receive tailored support and do not miss out on vital educational opportunities.

The statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ requires designated safeguarding leads to undergo training to provide them with the knowledge and skills to carry out their role. This includes having a good understanding of, and alertness to, the needs of young carers to identify their needs.

The impact of caring responsibilities on a young person’s education has been hidden for too long. The department is using school census data to shine a light on young carer’s attendance, suspensions and exclusions, and is aiming to publish data on their educational progress and attainment this autumn.

This data will support our work to break down barriers to opportunity for every child, at every stage, ensuring our reforms to both education and to children’s social care work for young carers.

The government will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the adult skills fund in the 2025/26 academic year. This includes funding the ‘Free courses for jobs’ offer, which gives eligible adults the chance to access high value level 3 qualifications for free, which can support them to gain higher wages or a better job.

The government will also support learners through our technical education offer, including through a range of apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps. Our new levy-funded growth and skills offer will introduce greater flexibility to employers and learners in England.

From September 2026, learners will be able to apply for funding from the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), which will be the new student finance system for courses and modules starting from January 2027 onwards. The LLE will allow people to develop new skills and gain new qualifications across their working lives, at a time that is right for them, such as those returning from a career break.

On 1 April, the department announced that the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) would continue into 2025/26, with a budget of £50 million. A further announcement about arrangements for applications will be made as soon as possible. We remain committed to supporting families, who play an essential role in providing stable and loving homes for children in need. This funding will enable eligible families to apply for support in the coming year.

The ASGSF provides support for adopted children and those under special guardianship or child arrangement orders. The only group of foster carers and foster children who can access the ASGSF are those on the ‘foster to adopt’ pathway, where the plan is for the foster carer to adopt the child they are caring for if the court makes a placement order. Foster carers who obtain a special guardianship order can also ask that an application be made to the fund for a child they previously fostered.

Supporting kinship placements is critical to deliver our opportunity mission to ensure that children grow up in safe and loving homes. We have recently announced a £40 million package to trial a kinship allowance. The trial will test whether an allowance can support more children to settle with family and friends.

What steps she is taking to improve support for kinship carers.

I recently met kinship carers in Norwich, who do an amazing job in very difficult circumstances. One of the biggest challenges they face is financial support. Kinship’s recent “Forgotten” report found that children in kinship care are struggling because of an inaccessible and complicated picture of support. Has the Minister made an assessment of extending relevant financial support, such as pupil premium plus, to all children in kinship care?

I welcome the Minister’s response about kinship carers. What progress has been made on offering kinship carers respite provision, so that they can be given short-term breaks to ease the pressures facing kinship families?

Kinship carers play an extremely important role in both their kin children’s lives and in the children’s social care system.

The government is committed to working in partnership with local government to support children in care, whether they are being looked after by their community or kinship, foster carers and adoptive parents. The department recognises the challenges many kinship carers face. The government will consider how to most effectively transform the children’s social care system so that it is better delivering for children and families. This will include considering how best to support kinship carers and children in kinship care.

The department will recruit the first ever National Kinship Care Ambassador to advocate for kinship carers and work directly with local authorities to improve services. The ambassador will be appointed in 2024 and will support government and local authorities to keep kinship carers at the heart of their services.

The government is extending the delivery of peer support groups, which will sustain over 140 peer support groups across England where all types of kinship carers, including private foster carers, can come together to share stories, support each other, and exchange advice.

The department is also funding a package of in person and online training and support that all kinship carers across England may access. The service went live in April 2024 and is being delivered by the charity, Kinship.