Foster Care

(asked on 31st October 2016) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in how many of the foster for adoption placements initiated since 25 July 2014 the children were looked after pursuant to a section 20 Children Act 1989 voluntary accommodation arrangement; how many of those children were subject to (a) care proceedings at the time that the fostering for adoption placement began and (b) a pre-proceedings process during which parents were entitled to legal advice under Regulation 5(1)(e) of the Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013.


Answered by
Edward Timpson Portrait
Edward Timpson
This question was answered on 8th November 2016

The Department collects information on children placed in a fostering for adoption placement or subject to concurrent planning[1].

The number of children placed in a fostering for adoption placement or subject to concurrent planning at 31 March 2015 was 260[2]. Of these children, 50 were looked after under a voluntary agreement under section 20 of the Children Act 1989, a further 140 were looked after under a care order (full or interim), and 60 had a placement order in place. At 31 March 2016, 320 children were placed in a fostering for adoption placement or subject to concurrent planning, of which 60 were looked after under a voluntary agreement under section 20 of the Children Act 1989, 170 were looked after under a care order, and 90 had a placement order. The Department does not collect information on how many were entitled to legal aid, nor does it collect information on whether the placement involved more than one child.

Information on placements made during the year is due to be published in December and the data are still undergoing quality assurance checks. Information on fostering for adoption or concurrent planning placements since April 2016 will not be collected until 2017.

[1] Concurrent planning is where the local authority is trying to rehabilitate the child with the birth parents, but at the same time, the local authority is planning for adoption in the event that rehabilitation fails.

[2] Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.

Reticulating Splines