Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether data is collected on local authority allocation of (a) training dedicated to safeguarding children with acute mental health conditions and (b) other training for foster parents.

The Department for Education does not collect data on local authority allocation of training.

The government provides a range of guidance on safeguarding children and for foster parents and agencies, including:

• ‘Working together to safeguard children’, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2;
• ‘Keeping children safe in education’, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/912592/Keeping_children_safe_in_education_Sep_2020.pdf#:~:text=Safeguarding%20and%20promoting%20the%20welfare%20of%20children%20is,enable%20all%20children%20to%20have%20the%20best%20outcomes;
• ‘Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards’, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/192705/NMS_Fostering_Services.pdf;
• and ‘Fostering’, available here: https://www.gov.uk/childcare-parenting/fostering.