Children: Day Care

(asked on 17th July 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether looked-after children are eligible for 30 free hours of childcare from September 2017; and if she will make a statement.


Answered by
Robert Goodwill Portrait
Robert Goodwill
This question was answered on 20th July 2017

Looked after children are in the care of the local authority and are therefore receiving support in their local area. They are not eligible for 30 hours free childcare but will still be eligible for the 2-year-old entitlement and the universal 15 hours as a 3 or 4-year-old.

Foster carers are not eligible in respect of their foster children. The government is committed to ensuring that foster carers receive the support they need to meet the needs of the children they look after. Foster carers already receive an allowance and the national minimum standards for fostering services are clear that the allowance should cover the full cost of caring for a child. The national fostering stocktake, a comprehensive review of the fostering system, is now underway and we will complete it by the end of the year. Part of this review will consider the support that foster carers receive.

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