In addition to the below fees, every foster carer will be exempt from council tax payments from April 2023.
Age-related allowance:
Weekly allowances are paid to carers to cover the costs of looking after each child and should be spent in full on the child. These allowances apply to short-term, long-term and specialist care packages.
Age – Weekly Allowance
00 – 04 – £183.38
05 – 10– £198.43
11 – 15– £219.43
16 – 18– £249.39
Respite carers will receive a proportion of these allowances depending on the number of hours of care delivered in the week.
Carer skill level fee:
All carers receive a fee based on their assessed skill level (taking into account their experience and training undertaken)
Level – Weekly Payment
Foundation– £69.26
Intermediate– £125.30
Advanced– £174.66
Advanced + / Mockingbird Hub carers– £339.22
Single Placement/Remand Scheme– £357.95
We reward all of our foster carers with a competitive fee in addition to a fostering allowance that covers the cost of care.
There are other perks too, like free access to North Somerset leisure centres for your whole family, all year round. You are also automatically provided with free membership of the Fostering Network, the leading national fostering charity, giving you a range of benefits.
For current rates, please request an information pack or call us on 01275 888 999.
Fostering allowances
- A weekly allowance is paid to you to cover the cost of each child you foster.
- It must be spent in full on the child, divided between:
- Food
- Clothing
- Personal needs
- Travel
- Household contribution (e.g. energy bills)
- Festive season
- Holidays
- Child’s birthday
- Allowances are only paid when you have a child staying with you
Fees for fostering skills
Fees are paid in addition to fostering allowances to reward you for your skills and commitment.
There are 3 fees for skills levels, these are Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced.
- Fees are graded according to your assessed skill level
- All new foster carers receive the Foundation skills level
- You can increase your fees by undertaking training
- Fees are only paid when you have a child staying with you
- Enhanced fees can be paid to specialist carers
- Fostering fees could be taxable. To find out if you would have to pay tax on your fostering household income, please contact the Fostering Network helpline on 02074 019 582
