A: Private fostering is an arrangement whereby a child under the age of 16 (or 18 if the child has a disability) is placed for 28 days or more in the care of someone who is not the child's guardian or close relative, through a private agreement between the parent and carer.
The local authority will need to be made aware of the situation to check that arrangements are satisfactory.
Private foster carers can be from the extended family, e.g. a cousin or a great aunt, but cannot be a relative as defined under the Children Act 1989: "a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt (whether full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership) or step-parent". Such arrangements are considered to be kinship care, rather than private fostering.
It is a criminal offence for a private foster carer to fail to notify the local authority, without reasonable excuse, that they are caring for a child (if they are not the child's guardian or close relative). The main purpose of this is to ensure that the local authority is made aware and can satisfy themselves that the welfare of the child is satisfactorily safeguarded.
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