Fostering in Wirral

As of the end of March 2025, Wirral had around 680 children looked after by the local authority, including children in foster care, kinship care, residential care and other placements. This was one of the lowest figures in recent years but still shows a substantial need for stable, nurturing homes in the area.

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. Wirral continues to recruit carers because maintaining local placements helps children stay connected to their communities, schools and support networks. Local authorities like Wirral work with independent fostering agencies to meet demand and ensure children can be placed in family environments rather than residential settings.

Choosing to foster with the local authority (such as Wirral Council) or with an independent fostering agency depends on the kind of support, structure and matching approach you prefer. Fostering directly with Wirral Council means you work within the local children’s services team and may be prioritised for local placements, with direct access to community resources, educational and health professionals.

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. Some IFAs also have large networks useful if you are open to placements across neighbouring areas in the North West. 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 Wirral 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. Carers can also receive a professional fee as recognition of the work they do.

IFAs in the wider North West 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 across England; for example, for 2025–26 a child aged 5–10 has a minimum weekly allowance of about £194 and older teens £258–£267, with regional and provider variations.

Wirral needs foster carers across a range of fostering types because children come into care for many different reasons and at various ages. Local fostering recruitment 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.

IFAs operating in the area also recruit for a broad mix of placements, including short-term, long-term and specialist fostering. Placements for children with additional emotional or behavioural needs, respite care and short-notice emergency care are also commonly needed across Merseyside. Carers who are flexible on age and placement type are often in higher demand.

No, you do not need to own your home to foster in Wirral. What matters is that you have a secure and stable home environment with a spare bedroom suitable for a child or young person. Wirral’s fostering service asks prospective carers to have adequate accommodation, including space for a foster child’s 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. During your assessment, the fostering social worker will discuss your living arrangements in detail to ensure they meet the needs of the child.

To find a foster care agency in Wirral, 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 or near Wirral.

You can also contact Wirral Council’s fostering team directly for information about fostering through the local authority, including eligibility, support and the application process. Local directories and fostering comparison sites like Think Fostering allow you to filter by area and build a shortlist. Once you have that 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 Wirral area, because fostering providers registered with Ofsted may operate across Merseyside, Cheshire and the wider North West region while still serving Wirral families. The most accurate way to determine how many agencies serve the area is to use Ofsted’s provider search filtered by location and fostering.

Because many agencies cover multiple local authorities, you are likely to find several independent fostering providers, as well as options that operate region-wide and may be based outside the immediate Wirral borough. A practical approach is to look at all relevant providers whose Ofsted report area covers Wirral and then compare their support offers, ratings and local presence.