Special guardianship allowance calculator

Ask your council for its written policy

Written and reviewed by Patricia Hughes · Last updated · last reviewed

If you do one thing after using the calculator, make it this.

Why it is the first step

Everything else follows from the policy:

A conversation can be remembered differently by two people. A policy cannot.

What to ask for

  1. Your current policy on financial support for special guardians.
  2. How the starting figure for an allowance is decided.
  3. How any means test is applied, and what income is taken into account.
  4. Whether Child Benefit is taken into account.
  5. How allowances are reviewed each year.

A link is fine if it is on the website.

There is a template letter for this. Work out your figure and it appears at the end of your result, already filled in with your council, your area and your own numbers. Template: request-written-policy

I may not hold your council's policy

My calculator uses the national minimum figures for your area unless I hold a sourced and dated copy of your council's own published policy. I deliberately do not use policy details I cannot point at a live public source for, naming a council and describing what it does requires being able to show where that came from.

There is a duty behind this. Since October 2024 every council in England has had to publish a kinship local offer setting out the support it provides. So a request for the written policy is not a favour you are asking.

DfE, Kinship Care: statutory guidance for local authorities (October 2024) (checked 2026-08-29)

So if the result said I do not have your council's policy, that is not a gap in your council's duties. It is a gap in mine, and asking them directly is the fastest way round it.

What you can check, and what you have to ask for

Half of this you can do without asking anybody. Since October 2024 every council in England has had to publish a kinship local offer, so go and find your council's.

Its financial support policy is a different matter. That may not be published at all, and you will not know until you ask. Everything else on this site leans on that document, so ask early.

Work out what your council should be paying you It takes under a minute, and nothing you type leaves your browser.

Common questions

What if they will not send it?

Ask again in writing, referring to your earlier request and the date. If it is genuinely published, they can send you a link. If there is no answer, that is itself something to complain about.

Do I need to make a Freedom of Information request?

Usually not, most policies are published, or will be sent if you ask. FOI is there if a simple request gets nowhere.

This is an estimate, not legal advice. Financial support for special guardians is discretionary, and there is no fixed amount you can require your council to pay. It shows you the figure your council should be starting from, and what the rules and the published decisions say about how it has to decide.

Your council can lawfully pay less than the maximum after properly assessing your circumstances. If something here matters to your case, talk to one of the advice lines below before you rely on it.

Where these figures and rules come from

Who can help

These organisations give free, independent advice on kinship care and special guardianship. They are not part of your council.

  • Kinship: advice and peer support for kinship carers. kinship.org.uk
  • Family Rights Group: free advice line for families dealing with children's services. frg.org.uk
  • Citizens Advice: benefits, debt and general advice. citizensadvice.org.uk
  • Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (England), if you have complained to your council and are not satisfied. lgo.org.uk