The Fostering Network is celebrating campaign success after the Government amended the Children and Young Persons Bill so as to place a duty on local authorities in England and Wales to provide sufficient and diverse foster placements within their local area.
While the Care Matters white paper included an explicit duty to secure adequate local accommodation for looked-after children, this was missing from the Bill itself. The Fostering Network, working alongside NCB and other charities, has been pushing the Government to fulfill its Care Matters pledge on placement commissioning. After peers put forward an amendment on the Fostering Network’s behalf earlier this week, the Government accepted the case and has tabled an amendment to the Bill.
The Fostering Network’s policy and campaigns manager Adam Hug said: “We’re delighted that the Government has listened to us on this issue and has tabled this very welcome amendment. The requirement on local authorities to ensure they can provide looked-after children with accommodation to meet their individual needs should help tackle placement stability, by making it more likely children will be placed appropriately in the first place.
“Our next challenge will be to make sure that, once the Bill becomes law, this choice of foster families is achieved on the ground.”
The Children and Young Persons Bill is currently at report stage in the House of Lords, before returning to the House of Commons later this spring.
More information about our Lobby of Parliament, the Bill and the Fostering Network’s campaign plans is available in the campaigns section.