Grandparents raising grandchildren now have six standards behind them
What happened
On 2 October 2026 the Department for Education published updated statutory guidance on kinship care in England. Kinship care means a child being raised by extended family or friends rather than by their parents. It is often grandparents. It can be aunts, uncles, older siblings, or close family friends. Worldwide, it is the most common form of care for children who cannot live with their parents. The guidance was first published in October 2024. The new version reflects two things: new duties on councils under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, and a new set of National Kinship Standards. There are six standards. In summary, they say that councils should provide needs-led support and take a whole-family approach; that the voice and experiences of kinship children should be at the heart of decision-making; that anti-discriminatory and inclusive practice should underpin all support; that councils should prioritise safeguarding and wellbeing while helping carers manage complex family dynamics; that councils should work with a diverse range of kinship families to build a clear and comprehensive 'kinship local offer'; and that support should be integrated across agencies and, where needed, across council boundaries. The guidance also sets out the requirement for every council to consult on and publish a kinship local offer. This was previously called the local policy requirement. Councils must consult before publishing or updating it, including with kinship carers and children themselves. The guidance covers the full range of arrangements: informal family arrangements, private fostering, kinship foster care, child arrangements orders, special guardianship orders, and arrangements leading to adoption.
Why this matters
Kinship carers are one of the most overlooked groups in the country. A grandmother who takes in two grandchildren at short notice is doing work that would otherwise fall to the state, usually with no training, no preparation and a sharp drop in household income. Many are retired. Many are managing their own health conditions. Most had no plan for this. And unlike foster carers, many get very little automatic support, because informal arrangements often never come to the council's attention at all. The guidance itself acknowledges this: children in kinship care 'may not even be known to the local authority'. The 'kinship local offer' is the mechanism designed to fix part of that. The idea is simple. Each council has to publish, in one place, what support is actually available - financial, practical, emotional, educational - so that a carer does not have to work it out by phoning round. The standards matter because they set expectations councils can be held to. 'Needs-led', 'whole family' and 'accessible' are not just warm words when they appear in statutory guidance. They are the language a carer can quote back. The guidance also reflects something carers have said for years: support has to consider the whole family, including the child's parents and the other children already in the household, not just the carer and the child who arrived.
What the evidence actually says
The guidance is built on named evidence, which is worth knowing if you want to go deeper. It draws on a report called 'Improving the kinship local offer and approach to kinship care', published by the National Kinship Care Ambassador. That report shaped the push for local offers that are transparent, equitable and responsive. The DfE also commissioned Foundations, the What Works Centre for Children and Families, to produce an evidence-based Practice Guide for Kinship Care. Its three key principles are that support should reflect the specific needs and strengths of kinship carers; that one-to-one relationships and high-quality casework should be at the heart of support; and that families need to be told what they are entitled to, with councils actively working to remove barriers to access. That last principle is a quiet admission. The main barrier is often not that support does not exist, but that nobody told the family it did. It is also worth being clear about what statutory guidance is. Councils must have regard to it. It is stronger than advice and weaker than law. It does not, by itself, come with new money attached, and this document does not set out funding figures. The guidance acknowledges that many children in kinship care thrive, and also that they can face additional challenges - loss, feelings of abandonment, family tension and changes in family dynamics - because of the circumstances that brought the arrangement about.
Qurexa perspective
There is a small, practical corner of kinship care that rarely gets discussed, and it is one we see. When a child moves into a relative's home, their medicines move with them. Inhalers. Eczema creams. ADHD medication. Allergy pens. And the person now responsible for all of it may not have the child's full medical history, may not be registered at the same GP surgery, and may not have any legal document proving they are entitled to ask questions. That is a genuinely difficult position, and it is worth sorting early rather than in an emergency. Register the child with a local GP as soon as you can. Ask the surgery to arrange a transfer of records. Ask the pharmacy to set up repeat prescriptions in a way that works for your household, and tell them if collecting is difficult. If the child has an ongoing condition, ask for a written care plan - a one-page summary you can hand to a school, a holiday club or a hospital. Schools will usually ask for one anyway. And if you are not sure what legal authority you have to consent to treatment, ask the council's children's services or a solicitor. It is a common question and there is no shame in asking it. It is also exactly the kind of thing a good kinship local offer should answer without you having to.
Practical advice
If you are a kinship carer, search your council's website for its 'kinship local offer'. Every council in England is required to consult on and publish one. If you cannot find it, ask children's services for it by name. Ask what financial support you may be entitled to. This varies by the type of arrangement you have, and the answer is often more than carers expect. Find out whether your council has a kinship support worker or a local kinship group. Peer support from other carers is consistently one of the things carers themselves value most. If you are turned down for support, ask for the decision in writing and ask which part of the statutory guidance it relies on. That single question changes a lot of conversations. Talk to the child's school early. Schools can often arrange pastoral support, and the child may be eligible for extra help. Look after your own health. Kinship carers are often older, often managing their own conditions, and often the last person in the household to book an appointment. And if your arrangement is informal and the council does not know about it, consider whether making contact would help. It can feel risky. It is also the route to support you cannot otherwise access.
What to know
The DfE published updated statutory guidance on kinship care in England on 2 October 2026, reflecting new duties on councils under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 and introducing six National Kinship Standards. Every council must consult on and publish a 'kinship local offer' setting out available support, and must consult kinship carers and children before publishing or updating it. The guidance covers informal arrangements, private fostering, kinship foster care, child arrangements orders, special guardianship orders and arrangements leading to adoption. It draws on the National Kinship Care Ambassador's report and a Practice Guide produced by Foundations. It is statutory guidance, which councils must have regard to, and it does not itself set out funding figures. Sources: Department for Education (GOV.UK), 'Kinship care: guidance for local authorities', updated 2 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/kinship-care-guidance-for-local-authorities; Department for Education, 'Kinship care: statutory guidance for local authorities, October 2026', 2 October 2026, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6abf6a8defad0f1df672290c/kinship_care_statutory_guidance_for_local_authorities_october_2026.pdf; Foundations (What Works Centre for Children and Families), 'Practice Guide for Kinship Care', https://foundations.org.uk/ This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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