Fostering reforms must be allowed to bed in, says children's commissioner

Maggie Atkinson wants the government to refrain from making amendments to the reformed fostering and adoption policies until their impact can be measured.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Westminster Education Forum, she said it would be in the best interests of looked-after children if local authorities, practitioners and adoptive and foster parents were given time to fully understand their legal rights and responsibilities.

She said she hears of too many cases where local authorities are failing to fulfil their legal duties and wants all agencies involved in the care process to be able to test the changes brought about by the reforms and ensure they are fit for purpose.

Atkinson said: "Can we please not write any more laws until we know that the laws we've got are being fulfilled?

"Can we know that the system we've got works for children and young people in the most vulnerable circumstances before we throw it up in the air again?

"My final plea is that we work together on this. We're an increasingly diversified system – unless we [raise] the bars between the sectors and work together, the people who fall through the grids are the children."

However, former High Court judge Baroness Butler-Sloss urged delegates to report back to government about the effectiveness of the reforms so that any flaws in the legislation can be dealt with.

She said: "I do hope that those who have experiences of what is going on would collate them with others from various agencies, put them together, bring them to parliament and the department because we can always change it."

Atkinson also told delegates of a recent case where a local authority called security company G4S in to physically remove an 18-year-old man from his foster home because his care programme had ended, despite both him and his foster parents being happy for him to stay.

Such practice would not now happen – from yesterday local authorities are legally bound to offer fostered children aged 18 the opportunity to stay with their carers up until their 21st birthday under the “staying put” duty introduced under the Children and Families Act 2014.