Foster carers should get council tax paid

Sheffield Lib Dems want foster carers to get extra payments which would cover the cost of their council tax. It would mean carers living in homes up to to Band D wouldn't pay council tax at all.

Adam Hanrahan, shadow cabinet member for finance, said: "If children end up living with foster carers outside Sheffield, it can cost the council up to five times more than if they stayed with families in Sheffield. Giving Sheffield foster families council tax relief would encourage more people to become carers and give financial support to existing ones."

Sheffield Council is looking at a number of different ways to attract and retain foster carers.

Councillor Jackie Drayton, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families at Sheffield Council, said: “There is currently a Children’s Social Care Task Group reviewing Children’s social policy in Sheffield.

"Currently part of its work is to review a range of opportunities that could potentially act as incentives to increase the number of new foster carers in the city. We are exploring how we could possibly support attract and retain foster carers in a variety of ways, these are just ideas at this stage and require more in depth investigation and discussion.”