Carers in North East Lincolnshire are set to benefit from a groundbreaking support package as part of a Government pilot scheme launched today.
North East Lincolnshire Council are one of just seven local authorities in England that have been chosen to deliver a pilot scheme offering kinship carers a special allowance and additional support.
The pilot scheme was unveiled in Summer 2025, with Councils submitting applications to be involved. North East Lincolnshire Council is the only local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region that has been chosen to be a part of the scheme.
The pilot is aimed at testing whether an allowance and new support mechanisms for kinship carers would help to keep children out of the care system whilst remaining in loving homes with stable family networks.
Kinship carers are usually relatives, friends or someone with a prior connection, who raises a child when their parents are unable to do so. This is usually a grandparent, aunt or uncle, or a sibling.
It has been suggested that by growing up in kinship care arrangements rather than in local authority care, children tend to be more successful.
Councillor Margaret Cracknell, portfolio holder for children and education at North East Lincolnshire Council, welcomed the announcement.
“I’m really thrilled with the Department for Education’s announcement today that we have been successful in bidding to be a part of what will be a really important pilot scheme.
“This will mean an incredible amount to our community of dedicated kinship carers who pour so much love into the children in their care.
“I’m excited to see the results of this pilot in due course.”
Ann-Marie Matson, Director of Children’s Services in North East Lincolnshire, added:
“We’re really pleased to have been chosen to be a part of this pilot scheme to become a Kinship Zone.
“Officers have spent the last days and weeks ensuring that all of the necessary work is done in the background to get us ready to hit the ground running.
“I know that our kinship carers will really benefit from the support that comes with this allowance.
“Many of our kinship carers have been thrust into parenthood unexpectedly, due to a variety of circumstances, and so it’s fantastic that that are now being offered support to deliver that vital care to their children.”
The pilot will deliver an allowance for kinship carers with a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) or a ‘lives with’ Child Arrangement Order (CAO) looking after children who would be ‘otherwise in care’.
This will include all children subject to a kinship SGO application and children subject to a CAO application by the family court who would ‘otherwise be in care’.
The pilot will run between November 2025 and March 2029. The pilot will be independently evaluated, and decisions about future rollout will be informed by the findings of the evaluation.
To find out more about the Kinship Allowance Pilot, visit Government launches investment in support for kinship carers – GOV.UK
ENDS
Share this article