Allowance rates

These are the fostering minimum allowances each nation publishes. They matter to special guardians because the statutory guidance treats the core fostering allowance as the starting point for a special guardianship allowance.

Councils normally raise allowance rates on 1 April every year. The government states those same rates for a tax year beginning 6 April. Benefit rates, meaning Child Benefit, Guardian's Allowance and the rest, change separately, in the first full week of April.

England

England: weekly minimum allowance, financial year 2026/27
Age of child	London	South East	Rest of England
0–2	£205	£195	£176
3–4	£208	£203	£182
5–10	£233	£223	£201
11–15	£266	£255	£227
16–17	£309	£298	£267

Scotland

Scotland does not have special guardianship orders. Kinship carers are covered by the Scottish Recommended Allowance, which is a minimum and applies equally to foster and kinship carers.

Scotland: weekly minimum allowance, financial year 2026/27
Age of child	Weekly rate
0–4	£177.68
5–15	£206.71
16–17	£283.35

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland: weekly minimum allowance, financial year 2026/27
Age of child	Weekly rate
0–4	£160
5–10	£179
11–15	£200
16–17	£235

Wales

The Welsh table below reads oddly, and it is correct anyway.

Important

In Wales the rate for a child under 5 is higher than for a child aged 5 to 15. That is the opposite of every other table on this page, so it looks like a mistake. It is how the rates are published, though.

The Welsh Government's own circular for an earlier year prints them that way, so the pattern itself is settled. This year's figures come from a table reproducing that circular, because the letter for this year has not been published anywhere I can find. So I am telling you rather than quietly “correcting” a government figure.

Wales: weekly minimum allowance, financial year 2026/27
Age of child	Weekly rate
0–4	£229
5–15	£208
16–17	£260

Previous years

2025/26

England: weekly minimum allowance, financial year 2025/26
Age of child	London	South East	Rest of England
0–2	£198	£189	£170
3–4	£201	£196	£176
5–10	£225	£216	£194
11–15	£257	£247	£220
16–17	£299	£288	£258

2024/25

England: weekly minimum allowance, financial year 2024/25
Age of child	London	South East	Rest of England
0–2	£191	£183	£165
3–4	£195	£189	£170
5–10	£217	£208	£187
11–15	£248	£238	£213
16–17	£289	£278	£249