Argyll and Bute Council is investing in support for vulnerable young people. The authority’s executive committee has agreed on financial help for kinship carers.

It has been decided there’ll be a 43% increase in the amount of money being committed. It means there’ll be a weekly allowance of £70.41 for children up to four years old, £87.43 for children aged between five and ten years old, £107.46 for children aged between eleven and fifteen years old and £140.91 for over sixteen’s.

Kinship care is when a child can no longer live with a parent and as an alternative to fostering or residential care moves to stay with a ‘relative.’ This could include significant adults close to the child or family who don’t necessarily have a recognised legal or genetic relationship. Kinship care is recognised to be beneficial for children by helping them to stay as part of their wider family and local community.

The extra money needed to fund this increase in 2011/12 will be taken from the additional £2.455 million given to the council by the Scottish Government earlier this year.

Spokesperson for Social Affairs, Councillor Andrew Nisbet said, ‘Our priority as a council is to look after vulnerable young people in every way we can. We currently support more than forty children financially through the kinship carer scheme but it is anticipated over the next few years the number of children involved could grown by ten percent. ‘