Step Up Step Up - December 2013 | Page 3

STEP UP PAGE 3 Croydon to benefit from a share in £100m funding for children in care The government’s new ‘pupil premium plus’ will start in April 2014 and Croydon’s looked-after children are set to benefit to the tune of more than £500,000 per annum. Under the new scheme, the amount of money available to support the education of the 400 or so school-age children in Croydon Council’s care will rise from £900 to £1,900 per annum. Those eligible include children under residential orders, special guardianship orders or those who have been adopted from care. What’s more, Croydon’s large number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children will benefit substantially from the news that their entitlement to financial support starts from the day they enter care, rather than the current arrangement under which there is a six-month delay. ‘Croydon’s looked-after children are set to benefit to the tune of more than £500,000 per annum’