Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the causes of the reduction in the number of further applications to ensure adequate numbers of foster carers.

The National Fostering Stocktake is underway. It is exploring a number of issues including the recruitment and retention of foster carers. It will give us a much better understanding of the current provision and the challenges in the foster care system, including barriers to recruitment.

The independent external reviewers will report to Ministers with recommendations at the end of the year. The Government response will be published in Spring 2018.