Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to ensure staff working within local government children's social care receive training to understand the potential altruistic motivation of potential (a) foster and (b) adoptive parents of faith.

Local authorities are responsible for the continuous professional development of their workforces, including social workers.

Social workers are critical to the functioning of the wider children’s social care system. They must meet the professional standards set by Social Work England to practise as a social worker. In relation to the altruism of those seeking to foster and adopt, the standards recognise the importance of family and community networks, requiring social workers to work in partnership with these.

To support child and family social workers to continuously improve their practice, the department funds professional development for around 4,000 social workers each year. The new Early Career Framework for child and family social workers will significantly extend the training and support they receive in the early stages of their career, helping to equip them with the knowledge skills they need to support children and families.