Foster care review criticised for 'lacking ambition and vision'

The foster care stocktake, led by government adviser Sir Martin Narey and children's social worker Mark Owers, makes a total of 36 recommendations to improve the system, including establishing a national register for foster carers and a shift to regional commissioning arrangements in order to get better value for money.

It also calls for more clarity about the ability of carers to take independent decisions about the children they are fostering, and for guidance not to discourage carers from being physically affectionate to the children in their care.

And it suggests there should be greater regional co-operation on marketing campaigns to recruit foster carers.

It also moots the establishment of similar arrangements to the existing Adoption Leadership Board and Residential Care Board for foster care - and for the creation of a "permanence board" to oversee them all, under the chairmanship of the director general for children's social care, the most senior official in the Department for Education responsible for the care system.

But The Fostering Network said it is particularly concerned that the review concluded that foster carers are not underpaid and that it contains no proposals to review the allowance they receive.

The charity also said the proposals do not recommend that the minimum fostering allowance is extended to carers looking after young people aged 18 to 21 through Staying Put arrangements.

"We are disappointed in the report's lack of vision and ambition for the future of fostering," Kevin Williams, chief executive of The Fostering Network said.

"While we are pleased with a number of the recommendations we are concerned that overall we will be left with a continuation of the existing status quo.

"We are shocked that the report states that foster carers are not routinely underpaid and are therefore disappointed that there is no move to ensure that foster carers are properly paid for the work that they do.

Williams added: "Overall we think this is an opportunity missed to create a foster care system fit for the 21^st century."