Councils continue to skimp on allowances

A survey of fostering allowances has found that more than half of
English councils pay less than its recommended minimum.

The Fostering Network, which carries out the annual survey, hoped
to see proposals for a government-funded system of national
allowances, ending the current post code lottery, in the children’s
green paper.

For 2003-4 the network’s minimum allowances start at £105.74
for a baby (higher in London), and vary according to the age of the
child. The survey found that actual allowances start at around
£50 per week for the youngest children. It was carried out
between March and August this year.