In December 2015, the government, following public consultation, announced changes to be made to the information gathered about private fostering arrangements in England. Additional questions will be added to the children in need census to enable better identification of the types of arrangements posing most risk of harm to children. It is hoped that the new data collected will help national and local government to support targeted action in the future, resulting in better safeguarding and prioritisation of privately fostered children.
However, these changes only affect the collection of data from local authorities by the Department for Education (DfE). They do not affect the duty on authorities under section 67 of the Children Act 1989 to satisfy themselves that the welfare of a child who is privately fostered within their area is safeguarded and promoted. It is not expected that expanding the children in need census will in itself result in an increase in private fostering notifications.
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