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Children's Handbook Scotland | 2024/25

1. What is foster care

• Public fostering
• Private fostering

‘Fostering’ is where a child or young person is being cared for in a family home with carers who do not have parental responsibility for them. There are two different types of fostering:

•public fostering; and
•private fostering.

The difference depends on who makes the arrangement for the child to live with foster carers.

Public fostering

Public fostering is where the local authority arranges for the child to live with a foster carer(s). This may be done through the local authority’s own fostering service or through an arrangement with a voluntary organisation – eg, Barnardo’s or Action for Children. This type of fostering is governed by the Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009. Public foster carers are approved by the local authority.1Reg 2 LAC(S) Regs

A child who is in public foster care is ‘looked after’ by the local authority. The information in this chapter is aimed at public fostering arrangements and the term ‘foster carers’ is used to mean public foster carers.

Foster carers are usually paid a fostering allowance and also a fee. The rates for fostering allowances or fees vary depending on the local authority or fostering agency, although there is a national minimum fostering allowance (called the Scottish Recommended Allowance) introduced with effect from April 2023. The weekly 2023 rates per child are as follows:2Scottish government announcement, gov.scot/news/new-national-allowance-for-foster-and-kinship-carers

•0–4 year olds: £168.31;
•5–15 year olds: £195.81;
•16 year olds and above: £268.41.

 

1     Reg 2 LAC(S) Regs »

2     Scottish government announcement, gov.scot/news/new-national-allowance-for-foster-and-kinship-carers »

Private fostering

Private fostering is where a parent (or person with parental responsibility) arranges for the child to live with another person for 28 days or more, and the other person is not a relative. ‘Relative’ means grandparent, brother, sister (or half-brother or half-sister), aunt or uncle (including by marriage).1s21 Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984 This type of fostering is governed by the Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984 and the Foster Children (Private Fostering) (Scotland) Regulations 1985.

The information in this chapter does not apply to private fostering arrangements. If you are a foster carer in a private fostering arrangement, or if your child lives with a private foster carer, there are no special benefit or tax credit rules. This means that if you satisfy the conditions of entitlement for a benefit or tax credit (see Chapter 1), you are able to claim. See here, here and here for more information on the priority between potential claimants.

 

1     s21 Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984 »