Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the first report of the Education Committee, Fostering, published on 22 December 2017, HC 340, what steps his Department is taking to implement measures to improve financial support and working conditions for foster carers.

Foster parents play a vital role in supporting some of our most vulnerable children and young people. I am committed to ensuring that foster parents receive the support and recognition they need to meet the needs of the children they look after.

The National Minimum Standards for fostering services are clear that every foster parent with a child in placement should receive an allowance that covers the full cost of caring for a child. The government recommends a minimum allowance that fostering service providers should pay to their foster parents each week. Whilst it is for fostering service providers to decide the rate paid to foster parents, our strong expectation is that they will receive at least the national minimum allowance.

The National Fostering Stocktake, an independent review of the fostering system in England, has now concluded. It considered the support, recognition and status of foster parents. I will carefully consider the recommendations made by the Education Select Committee and the independent review on the recognition and support, including financial support, that foster parents receive. The government response will be published in spring 2018.