Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

I will write to the noble Lord with a fuller explanation of the Government’s position on the issue. As he is aware, the strengthened notification scheme in respect of private fostering introduced by the Children Act 2004 has had only two years of operation, so it has not been in operation long enough for us to assess it properly. Therefore I cannot give the noble Lord that which I believe he is seeking, which is our assessment of the effectiveness of the new regime in its entirety. I will provide any preliminary information that I can of the effects we believe have flowed from the strengthened notification scheme introduced in 2004. Clause 29 agreed to.