Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Kinship carers play an extremely important role in both their kin children’s lives and in the Children’s Social Care system.

On 2 February 2023, the department published its consultation and Children’s Social Care implementation strategy, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, which sets out how the department will achieve broad, system wide transformation. Through this strategy, the department has made a commitment to implement or explore each of the Review’s recommendations on kinship care.

The department has committed to work across government to explore possible additional workplace entitlements for kinship carers with a special guardianship order or child arrangement order.

The department is also committed to publishing a national kinship care strategy by the end of 2023, which builds on feedback the department received following the publication of ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’. This will provide an update on reform activity. The strategy will set out a long term vision for kinship care and detail how the department can better support children and carers. The department sees this as a pivotal moment for kinship care and is an opportunity to make real and lasting change.

Kinship carers play an extremely important role in both their kin children’s lives and in the Children’s Social Care system.

The department published the consultation and implementation strategy: Stable Homes, Built on Love, on 2 February 2023, which sets out how we will achieve broad, system-wide transformation. Through this strategy we have made a commitment to implement each of the Review’s recommendations on kinship care.

The department has committed to working across government to explore possible additional workplace entitlements and options for an extension of legal aid for kinship carers with a special guardianship order (SGO) or child arrangement order (CAO). The department is also exploring the case for mandating a financial allowance for kinship carers with SGOs and CAOs in every local authority.

The department is committed to publishing a national kinship care strategy by the end of 2023. This will provide an update on reform activity such as exploring financial allowances. The strategy will set out a long-term vision for kinship care, and detail how we can better support children and carers. The department sees this as a pivotal moment for kinship care and will be an opportunity to make real and lasting change.

Statutory guidance issued to local authorities already makes it clear that children and young people should receive the support that they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare. There is no limit on the level of support, including financial support, that local authorities can provide. All local authorities should have in place clear eligibility criteria in relation to the provision of support services.

The department recognises the invaluable and important role that kinship carers play in their kin children’s lives. The recently published Independent Review of Children’s Social Care set out recommendations on how the government can better support kinship families.

The department is now considering how to take these recommendations forward, including the recommendations to create a financial allowance and a new paid parental leave entitlement for kinship carers.

The department is working on an ambitious and comprehensive response to the recommendations in the review.

The recently published Independent Review of Children’s Social Care set out recommendations on how the government can better support kinship families. The department is currently considering how we can take these recommendations forward, including the recommendations to create an allowance and a new entitlement to kinship leave for all special guardians and kinship carers with a Child Arrangements Order in place.

The department is rapidly working up an ambitious and comprehensive implementation strategy in response to the recommendations in the Review, which will be announced in due course.