Grandmother ‘should be paid the same as foster carer’

A grandmother has won the legal right to the same rate for looking after her granddaughter as would be paid to a foster carer with no family connections.

The ruling, by Mrs Justice Black at the High Court in London, was revealed for the first time today.

The woman, who for legal reasons was referred to as "GM", took over caring for "A", now 15, at the request of Kent county council's social services.

But the council refused to pay her the same money as a foster carer, even though A would have been taken into care if her 64-year-old grandmother had not intervened in December 2004.

The judge said the history of A meant she must be regarded as "looked after by the local authority", and the council should therefore pay GM £146.23 a week instead of the £63.56 she receives.

The council was granted permission to go to the Court of Appeal because the case could have widespread implications. Nigel Priestley, of Huddersfield law firm Ridley & Hall, which represented the grandmother, said "kinship" carers were increasingly used because of a shortage of foster carers, and "shouldn't have to battle with the local authority for support".