Revising the National Minimum Standards (NMS) for Adoption, Children's Homes and Fostering.

- We all love a good acronym, but what is an NMS when it's at home?

National Minimum Standards. Think children in care, Care Matters in its green and white paper versions, and the Children and Young Persons Act 2008. The first sets of NMS came out in 2002, and were published under the Care Standards Act 2000. The standards and accompanying regulations provided the basis upon which the inspectorate assessed whether or not a provider should be registered. But, with new legislative measures and other government commitments in place, they need updating.

- So they're important.

Yes. If you fail to comply with the regulations, you must "remedy the deficiency" or lose registration. At the moment, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is consulting on the NMS for adoption, children's homes and fostering and, to assist those trying to make sense of the three volumes, has issued a summary paper outlining what it believes are the major changes to the new standards. It also plans to revise and consult on new fostering services and children's homes regulations over the next few months. The government intends to respond to the consultation in early 2010, issue the new NMS in September 2010, and make them operational from April 2011.