Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to (a) monitor and (b) shorten the fostering approval process to meet the Government’s pledge for getting vulnerable children into foster homes.

We have announced an ambitious reform programme to urgently address the sharp decline in foster carers and modernise fostering. The reforms establish a clear direction built on relationships, stability and trust: simplifying outdated rules, strengthening national recruitment, expanding regional collaboration and improving support and respect given to carers.

Our primary metric will be the number of approved fostering places in local authorities and third sector providers, with a target of 10,000 more approved fostering places by the end of this Parliament. We will also monitor wider trends such as conversion from enquiry to approval, assessment timeliness, placement stability, and reduced reliance on residential care.

We will improve the approval process by strengthening expectations on timeliness and reducing bureaucracy. We are also consulting on removing fostering panels for initial approvals while retaining strong oversight. For fostering recruitment hubs, we will introduce a new performance framework so that hubs are both clear on expectations on data collection and accountable for outcomes and continuous improvement.

The department does not hold data centrally on the number of fostering placements at constituency level. Nationally, placement sufficiency remains under strain, which is why reforms are essential to renewing fostering and improving support for carers and children.