Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has assessed the adequacy of financial investment in (a) weekend, (b) short-break fostering and (c) supported lodgings.

We have announced an ambitious reform programme to urgently address the sharp decline in foster carers and modernise fostering.

We are investing £88 million over the next two financial years to transform the foster care system. That will include direct action to recruit and retain a wide range of foster carers, including weekend and short-break foster carers.

This investment includes an innovation programme supported by £12.4 million to scale and spread new and existing models of care, including different models of foster care that push at the boundaries of how we achieve better results for children. This programme can also include initiatives that make greater use of supported lodgings to enable older children, where appropriate, to live more independently.

Our policy paper also sets out plans to ensure that carers can rely on their own trusted networks, and to tackle unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles that carers often face when attempting to do this. The policy paper is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewing-fostering-homes-for-10000-more-children.