Children’s Minister Maree Todd and the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh.
By Lizzie Healey
Children who have experienced family break-ups or the death of a parent need to be looked after.
And the people who do that work should be on the same rate of pay as foster carers.
However, that is not happening at the moment, the Scottish Parliament was told on Thursday.
SNP MSP Willie Coffey asked whether non-looked-after “kinship carers” should receive the same level of financial support that foster carers and looked-after kinship carers receive when looking after children
But the answer was far from clear and the situation complicated.
Maree Todd, the Minister for Children and Young People, told parliament: “Kinship carers of non-looked-after children can receive the same level of financial support as foster carers where there is a kinship care order in place under section 11(1) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.
“We are aware that kinship care orders are not always right in individual cases. We continue to consider how best to ensure that kinship carers get the support that they need.”
Mr Coffey said he knows people who are kinship carers, having voluntarily taken in their grandchildren, for example, but who do not meet the criteria for kinship carer allowance, which seems to be payable only where there is a risk element involved.
“That means that they are struggling financially. Will the minister consider reviewing the criteria for the kinship carer allowance to make it available to kinship carers of non-looked-after children?”
Maree Todd said the agreement on kinship carer allowance does not apply to all kinship carers and that has raised concerns among those who do not meet the eligibility criteria.
She added: “The Scottish Government provides clear guidance on how local authorities should assess whether a child is at risk of becoming looked after. As with all such guidance, we will keep these matters under constant review.
“Because each kinship carer’s circumstances are unique, the Scottish Government funds Citizens Advice Scotland to provide specialised advice for kinship carers along with signposting to local support services, including support on financial and legal matters.
“We have worked with, and will continue to work with, our social security colleagues, including those in Westminster, to ensure that kinship carers can access a variety of benefits to alleviate the additional costs of caring for their family’s children.”