One in four councils flout private fostering duties

11 February 2009 1 min read Janaki Mahadevan Social Care

Ofsted's chief inspector of schools has said she is disappointed at the lack of progress in raising public awareness about the need to notify local authorities of private fostering arrangements.

Christine Gilbert told delegates at the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) conference on safeguarding privately fostered children that the number of "inadequate" local authorities continues to be too high.

She said a quarter of local authorities had made little progress in implementing their duties under the Children Act 2004 and the National Minimum Standards, which require them to raise public awareness that they must be notified of private fostering arrangements and then monitor them.

Gilbert said: "While I recognise the progress some authorities have made, it cannot be right that after all the emphasis on the vulnerability of privately fostered children, there are still a quarter of authorities that have made very little progress."

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