Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to provide additional support to kinship carers who are caring for vulnerable children as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Local authorities have a general duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need living within their areas. This can include support for kinship care families who look after vulnerable children. Councils across England are getting an additional £3.2 billion to help them to deal with the immediate impacts of coronavirus, including to support vulnerable children.

Kinship families whose children left care through special guardianship orders are eligible for therapeutic support through the recently announced Adoption Support Fund COVID-19 scheme. The scheme will pay for different types of therapeutic support for families whose children have experienced trauma or abuse in their early life and as a result be made more anxious during the current coronavirus crisis.

We are working with sector organisations such as the Family Rights Group and Grandparents Plus who represent kinship carers to understand the challenges and identify opportunities to increase the support available to them.