Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that evidence gathered from kinship care pilot areas is representative of kinship carers, including in Bedford Borough and neighbouring local authorities.

Kinship care plays a vital role in keeping children safe within their wider family networks, helping to provide stability and loving homes while reducing the need for statutory care.

The department has launched the kinship allowance pilot in seven local authority areas, known as Kinship Zones, with £126 million of funding confirmed for the first two years. This level of funding reflects the investment required to test the provision of an allowance paid at the Fostering National Minimum Allowance rate and to support a robust evaluation at scale.

The pilot areas were selected to reflect a mix of geographies and service models so that findings are informative nationally. Those local authorities that are not currently Kinship Zones either did not apply to participate or were unsuccessful.

The pilot has been designed as a test‑and‑learn programme to understand what support works best for kinship families and to build strong evidence on impact, implementation and value for money of the pilot, including whether it improves outcomes for children, supports stable placements and reduces pressure on the care system and other public services. This will inform future policy decisions, including for areas outside the pilot such as Bedford. No decisions have been taken on national rollout.

While the pilot is underway, all kinship carers can continue to access support through their local authority and department funded national provision, including advice, training and peer support. We encourage local authorities to review their local offer and learn from best practice across the country.