Foster carer urges council action over payment delay

A foster carer has called on a council to "get its act together" over delays to payments to help buy food and clothes for those in his care.

David Simcock, who is currently caring for four boys, said the annual uplift which he should have received from Leeds City Council dating back to last April, had still not been paid.

He said the delays were "horrendous", and had left him worse off financially, and struggling to carry out his caring duties to the boys he fosters.

The authority said the delay had been due to "additional scrutiny" of its outgoings, and said a quicker process was now in place with regard to future payments.

Uplift payments to foster carers are increases to their allowances to account for inflation and rises in the cost of living.

Mr Simcock, who has been a foster carer for 20 years, said not receiving the extra money on time had made life "more diffiicult".

"You can't buy a litre of fuel today at last year's prices. You can't buy food at last year's prices," said Mr Simcock. "You have to pay today's prices, and we don't have today's uplift to be able to cover that."

"You simply can't do the job, if you've not got the right means and the provision to do it with."

Mr Simcock, from Keighley, said he felt powerless because he loved being a foster carer and would not stop doing the job, despite the problems over payments.

"I fully understand the council have got tremendous budgetary problems, but they have to sort them out and get their act together."

"What are we gonna do, go on strike? Are we going to throw our kids out into the street as a protest?" he said.

"There is nothing we can do. We're stuck with it because we love looking after children."

His foster daughter - Demi Moore - said her parents had been invaluable, giving her and her siblings a life they would not have otherwise had.

She said her father not receiving the money he was entitled to from the council demonstrated the dimished respect and value placed on foster carers.

"It's basically saying the increase in money isn't that necessary: we will make you wait for it.

"We all know the cost of bringing children up," said Ms Moore. "We all know it can be expensive - things rise and we've all got to keep continuing paying."

In a statement, Leeds City Council said it was "committed to providing the annual uplift in weekly fees and allowances to ensure that cost-of-living increases do not disadvantage and impact negatively on our carers".

The authority added: "We do acknowledge, however, that the significant financial challenges faced by the council have necessitated additional scrutiny and review of all expenditure and that this has resulted in some delay in awarding these annual uplift payments, and we absolutely understand the concern and frustration this has caused."

The authority said a review had resulted in approval of future payments being made earlier in the financial year, which meant a "quicker process will now be in place for payments relating to 2025/26 - and all future payments".

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.