PAYMENTS to foster carers will rise after it was revealed St Helens Council made just one recruitment in 2017-18.

Cabinet members agreed on Wednesday to increase payments to foster carers, so they receive a minimum of £250 per week.

The estimated annual cost of implementing the new rates would be approximately £1.1 million, according to a council report.

It says as of September 30, St Helens had 455 children in care, with 317 placed in foster care.

Currently there is a shortage of foster carers in St Helens, with ongoing recruitment campaigns proving unsuccessful.

Cllr Joe Pearson, cabinet member for developing young people, said: “As members of cabinet will notice, the council has not reviewed its payments to our foster carers since 2009.

“So, for almost ten years the allowance for carers has not kept pace with the wider cost increases and also the increases that carers have received in other local areas.”

The uplift in payments to foster carers is expected to take effect from January 1, 2019.

If it does, there will be a cost of approximately £289,000 in the 2018-19 financial year.

Cllr Pearson said: “I recognise this is a considerable challenge in the current financial context, however, these are the people who we trust with the care of some of our most vulnerable children.

“The foster carers themselves have told us that money is not the only issue for them that we need to address.

“Last year we only recruited one foster carer and that needs to change.”

Last month children’s services received a peer review from the Local Government Association (LGA), which was initiated following Ofsted’s damning focused visit in July.

The council report said the LGA peer review team said the council’s foster service was “outdated” and requires “urgent attention”.

They said there is a need for a wider shift in how the council views its foster carers to ensure that they are “integral” to the wider team for children.

Cllr Pearson said foster careers have made it clear to the council they feel they have not been recognised, both financially and in support of the offer the council make to them.

As part of the shake-up of foster services, cabinet approved a new draft recruitment strategy, which will see the launch of a targeted campaign.

Cllr Pearson said the strategy focuses on retention and recognition, ensuring foster carers have the correct level of support and ensuring the local authority show recognition in other ways.

Council leader Derek Long said foster carers have done a “great service” to the borough.

Cllr Long said: “As leader of this council I’d like to pay tribute, unflinching tribute to those people who have acted as foster carers both now an in the past for this borough.

“They have done a great service for this borough, they’ve also done a fantastic service to the children that they’ve fostered and supported in different ways.”