Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

The amendments relate to the registration, regulation and payment of foster carers and seek to clarify the very welcome provisions on foster care in the Bill. According to the Fostering Network, foster carers have long called for the introduction of a national registration scheme for foster carers through the General Social Care Council. Such registration is already available to many other members of the children’s workforce. The logic is that registration would be a boost in the status of foster carers and would improve their treatment and the respect for them. Amendment No. 96 relates to the publication of the payments that foster carers receive. At the moment, there are vast discrepancies between different local authorities and independent providers. Not only do the remuneration payments, or what are often called fee payments, differ, but the allocation to cover the costs of fostering also varies immensely. Our amendment seeks to arrange for the publication of payments made to foster carers, and we also seek assurances that the publication will be comprehensive, providing a breakdown of what is actually covered and the different criteria for each scheme. Otherwise, the publication of payments would not be useful as a mode of comparison. Amendment No. 97 would empower foster carers to have more responsibility in decisions about their foster child. Children in foster care are often prevented from doing what other children simply take for granted—school holidays or even haircuts—because of insurmountable red tape and the delays of bureaucracy. We therefore support the amendment. Finally, the last amendment in the group ensures that payment continues to be made to foster carers against whom there have been allegations of wrongdoing until there has been an assessment of the claim. This is simply a question of innocent until proved guilty, as the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, said, and we are happy to support it, especially as a large proportion of foster carers will face allegations at some point. It will also encourage local authorities to resolve allegation claims quickly, as the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, said. It is not as though we have an unlimited pool of foster carers.