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780446

	registered interest
	date	30/10/2017
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many registered foster carers there have been in each of the last 10 years.
	tabling member constituency	East Worthing and Shoreham
	tabling member printed	Tim Loughton
	uin	110271
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/11/2017 answer text <p>This is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, to write to my hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) with the information requested.<ins class="ministerial"> A copy of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.</ins></p> answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill question first answered 02/11/2017 17:03:59 question first ministerially corrected 19/01/2018 09:15:36 answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill previous answer version 19649 answering member constituency Scarborough and Whitby answering member printed Mr Robert Goodwill answering member 1562 label Biography information for Sir Robert Goodwill
	tabling member	114 label Biography information for Tim Loughton

166549

	registered interest
	date	27/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new foster carers have been recruited in each local authority area in each of the last five years; and what measures her Department takes to monitor recruitment patterns.
	tabling member constituency	East Worthing and Shoreham
	tabling member printed	Tim Loughton
	uin	216340
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/12/2014 answer text <p>Data on the number of new foster carer households approved during the year has been collected by Ofsted since 2011-12. The numbers that were recruited in 2011-12 for each local authority area are included in the attached table. Equivalent local authority figures for 2012-13 and 2013-14 are due to be published in January 2015, although national figures are already available for 2012-13. [1] Ofsted did not collect this data prior to 2011-12 and consequently the data for earlier years are not available.</p><p>The Department for Education is supporting local authorities and independent fostering agencies through initiatives to promote recruitment and retention and broaden the range of foster carers, in line with their local assessments of the demand for foster carers.</p><p> </p><p>[1] <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/fostering-quality-assurance-and-data-forms-2012-13-first-statistical-release" target="_blank">www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/fostering-quality-assurance-and-data-forms-2012-13-first-statistical-release</a></p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson question first answered 02/12/2014 17:11:35 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson attachment 1 file name 216340 workbook 2.12.14.xls title Applications_from_prospective_fostering_households
	tabling member	114 label Biography information for Tim Loughton

170380

	registered interest
	date	15/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the number of foster carers; and what recent estimate she has made of the number of foster carers required.
	tabling member constituency	East Worthing and Shoreham
	tabling member printed	Tim Loughton
	uin	218668
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/12/2014 answer text <p>Our evidence at national level suggests that there is no overall shortage of foster carers. However, some local authorities report local difficulties, including shortages of particular types of foster carer such as those able to accommodate sibling groups and children with complex needs and challenging behaviours.</p><p>The Government is investing £750,000, over the period 2013 -15, in an innovative programme to help local authorities and their partners address issues and barriers in recruiting the range of foster carers needed to meet the needs of all looked-after children.</p><p>The Government's wider programme of reform for fostering aims to further support effective recruitment and retention of foster carers through: improving the assessment and approval process for new foster carers, facilitating effective delegation of parenting decisions to foster carers, and awarding £90,000 to Research in Practice to develop training on foster care for social workers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson question first answered 18/12/2014 12:40:48 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
	tabling member	114 label Biography information for Tim Loughton

101360

	registered interest
	date	28/10/2014
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked-after children in each local authority were in a foster care placement on 31 March (a) 2008, (b) 2010, (c) 2013 and (d) 2014; how many such children in each local authority were in a foster care placement with a relative or friend (i) inside and (ii) outside the authority boundary on each of those dates; how many such children in each local authority were under (A) an interim and (B) a full court order on each of those dates; and how many such children in each local authority area were looked after under a voluntary agreement under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 on each of those dates.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
	tabling member printed	Alan Johnson
	uin	212293
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2014 answer text <p>Data for 2008, 2010 and 2013 has been placed in the Library. Data for 2014 will be published in December 2014.</p> answering member constituency Crewe and Nantwich answering member printed Mr Edward Timpson question first answered 04/11/2014 17:38:07 answering member 1605 label Biography information for Edward Timpson
	tabling member	376 label Biography information for Alan Johnson

1027607

	registered interest
	date	18/12/2018
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are currently in foster care.
	tabling member constituency	Upper Bann
	tabling member printed	David Simpson
	uin	203264
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/12/2018 answer text <p>At 31 March 2018, there were 55,200 looked-after children in England in foster placements. Further information on the number of looked-after children by their placement is published in table A2 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018</a>.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 21/12/2018 09:32:45 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	1597 label Biography information for David Simpson

1086489

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on (a) increasing the number of and (b) improving support for foster carers since the Fostering better outcomes report published in July 2018.
	tabling member constituency	Mid Dorset and North Poole
	tabling member printed	Michael Tomlinson
	uin	230857
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2019 answer text <p><strong>‘</strong>Fostering Better Outcomes’ set out our commitment to improving the lives of children in foster care, including making sure there are sufficient foster parents to meet the needs of children, and that foster parents have access to the support they need. Whilst achieving this is a long-term strategy and requires everyone in the system to work together to bring about real improvements for foster parents and the children for whom they care, we have already made significant progress towards our commitments, including the following points:</p><p> </p><ul><li>We have undertaken a digital ‘discovery phase’ and have now moved to an ‘alpha’ testing phase, exploring how information and support can be made more accessible to current and prospective foster parents.</li><li>We are developing the ‘fostering trailblazers’ concept focusing on how we can best identify, evaluate and share examples of best practise.</li><li>The annual uplift to the national minimum allowance for foster parents was published in March. A communication has been sent to all Directors of Children’s Services making clear that this is the very minimum that we expect foster parents to be paid.</li><li>We have extended the Department for Education’s contract with Fosterline in order that current and prospective foster parents can continue to access free independent advice, advocacy and support that they tell us they find so valuable.</li><li>We have worked with the Fostering Network to strengthen the Foster Carer Charter, which clearly details the support foster parents can expect. We continue to encourage all fostering services to commit publicly to the charter.</li><li>Following our £3.8 million investment through the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme, we will share the evaluation of the Mockingbird Family Model project, to enable more fostering providers to understand the benefits and value of peer support to foster parents in order to develop their own systems.</li><li>We have invited bids from new or existing fostering partnerships to develop or expand collaborative approaches to sufficiency planning and commissioning of fostering placements, using needs analysis and innovative delivery models.</li></ul> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 19/03/2019 12:30:09 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4497 label Biography information for Michael Tomlinson

1146626

	registered interest
	date	26/09/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that routine decision making for a foster child is delegated to their carers as set out in The Children Act 1989, Guidance and Regulations: Section 3.188 which was revised in 2013.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	291472
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/10/2019 answer text <p>The regulations and statutory guidance are clear that day-to-day decisions should be delegated to foster parents. Any exceptions to this should be clearly stated in the child’s care plan. However, we acknowledge that practice does not always follow guidance.</p><p>In the report ‘Fostering Better Outcomes (2018)’, we committed to empowering and supporting foster parents. We are commissioning research to identify excellent practice, including how decisions are delegated. This will inform the creation of a network of Fostering Trailblazers which we will use to share best practice, innovation and learning with the sector in order to encourage sector-led improvements in practice.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 04/10/2019 12:29:32 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1147489

	registered interest
	date	01/10/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help local authorities recruit foster carers.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Mr Steve Reed
	uin	292918
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/10/2019 answer text <p>In Fostering Better Outcomes (2018), the department encouraged local authorities to consider joint recruitment efforts. To help with this, and to support local authorities to develop evidence-based recruitment approaches, the department is commissioning research on applying behavioural insight approaches to the recruitment of prospective foster carers and adopters.</p><p>In addition, the department is funding 7 feasibility studies in commissioning and sufficiency planning, bringing together local authorities with their partners to explore innovative practices, including collaborative approaches to foster care recruitment.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 07/10/2019 11:09:07 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1178796

	registered interest
	date	13/02/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department's policy is to support foster carers to maintain contact with children that they have fostered.
	tabling member constituency	Croydon North
	tabling member printed	Steve Reed
	uin	15158
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/02/2020 answer text <p>Maintaining contact is consistently one of the most important issues raised by children and young people. Many children value the relationships that they have, not only with family, but also with previous carers. Children should be supported and encouraged to maintain positive and constructive contact with all those who are important to them and this should include previous foster parents unless this is not consistent with the child’s best interest.</p><p>The department is currently talking to the sector to find ways that foster parents can be supported with all aspects of contact, including contact with children that they have previously fostered.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 24/02/2020 09:55:43 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	4268 label Biography information for Steve Reed

1192786

	registered interest
	date	04/05/2020
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Foster Care
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many individuals in foster care are in contact with their birth family.
	tabling member constituency	Ealing, Southall
	tabling member printed	Mr Virendra Sharma
	uin	42975
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/05/2020 answer text <p>The information requested on the number of children in foster care who are in contact with their birth family is not held centrally.</p><p>We expect that contact between children in care and their birth relatives will continue during the COVID-19 outbreak. It is essential for children and families to remain in touch at this difficult time.</p><p>Operational guidance published by the department sets out the expectation that contact arrangements are assessed on a case by case basis taking into account a range of factors including the government’s social distancing guidance and the needs of the child. It may not be possible, or appropriate, for the usual face-to-face contact to happen at this time and keeping in touch may need to take place virtually. We expect the spirit of any contact orders made in relation to children in care to be maintained and will look to social workers to determine how best to support those valuable family interactions based on the circumstances of each case.</p><p>The operational guidance is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-childrens-social-care" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-local-authorities-on-childrens-social-care</a>.</p><p>Social distancing guidance is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford grouped question UIN 42976 question first answered 11/05/2020 16:10:34 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
	tabling member	1604 label Biography information for Mr Virendra Sharma