Fostering in the North East

The North East of England has over 5,000 looked-after children across its 12 local authorities, which includes children in foster care, kinship care, residential care and other placements. This makes it one of the regions with the highest rates of looked-after children per head of population in England.

Nationally, around 67% of looked-after children live with foster carers, with roughly 54,800 children in foster placements across England on 31 March 2025. The North East continues to recruit carers because maintaining local placements helps children stay connected to their communities, schools and support networks.

Choosing to foster with a local authority or with an independent fostering agency depends on the kind of support, structure and matching approach you prefer. The North East has 12 local authorities, each running their own fostering service. Fostering directly with your local council means you work within the local children’s services team and may be prioritised for local placements.

IFAs are regulated by Ofsted just like local authorities, and many offer strong support systems with their own training, social work teams and out-of-hours services. The most practical way to decide is to speak to a few different providers and ask about support, training, supervision, respite arrangements and how placements are matched to carers’ strengths.

Foster carer payments in the North East vary depending on the provider, the child’s age and individual needs, and whether you are approved through the local authority or an IFA. All foster carers receive weekly allowances to cover the cost of caring for a child, including food, clothing, pocket money and other day-to-day costs.

IFAs across the North East often publish allowances ranging from roughly £450 to £860 per week per child, with higher payments for older children or specialist placements, and sometimes extra payments for birthdays, festivals and holidays. The UK government publishes minimum weekly fostering allowance bands; for 2025–26 a child aged 5–10 has a minimum of about £194 and older teens £258–£267.

The North East needs foster carers across a range of fostering types because children come into care for many different reasons and at various ages. Local recruitment across the region highlights the need for carers who can support infants, younger children and older children and teenagers, along with placements for siblings to stay together where possible.

Placements for children with additional emotional or behavioural needs, respite care and short-notice emergency care are also commonly needed. Carers who are flexible on age and placement type are often in higher demand across all 12 local authority areas.

No, you do not need to own your home to foster in the North East. What matters is that you have a secure and stable home environment with a spare bedroom suitable for a child or young person, including space for their personal bed and belongings.

Renting is usually acceptable provided the tenancy is secure and you can demonstrate that the foster child will have their own space and safety. Stability and suitability of the home are central to fostering approval, not ownership status itself.

Start by using Ofsted’s provider search, which lists registered fostering services and their inspection reports so you can compare quality and ratings. You can search by location and the category “Fostering” to see all agencies that work in your area of the North East.

You can also contact your local council’s fostering team directly for local authority options. Fostering comparison sites like Think Fostering allow you to filter by area and build a shortlist. Speak with agencies about support, training, supervision and placement approaches to judge which is the right fit.

There is no fixed published number of foster care agencies solely within the North East, because fostering providers registered with Ofsted may operate across multiple local authority areas. The North East has over 30 fostering providers including 12 local authority services and numerous independent agencies.

The most reliable way to get an up-to-date view is to use the Ofsted provider search and filter by location. A practical approach is to compare all relevant providers based on their support offers, ratings and local presence.