Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on (a) the tax treatment of foster carers who claim tax benefit and (b) the qualification of such people for other benefits.

Fostering income is already subject to a specific tax relief system consisting of a fixed annual threshold of £10,000 per fostering household and a weekly threshold based on the number of children in placement and their age. More information is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/foster-carers/help-with-the-cost-of-fostering

Foster carers can access working tax credit, where they meet the eligibility criteria, as fostering is treated as work for these purposes.

Under the benefits system, fostering income (allowances and fees) is fully disregarded for the purposes of calculating entitlement to welfare benefits. For the purposes of calculating income-related benefits, foster children are not included in the benefit assessment.