The figures show that only 730 children were reported to be in privatefostering arrangements at 31 March 2005. A survey in 1991 estimated thefigure to be closer to 8,000 to 10,000.
"It's a farcical number. We know that there are many thousands ofprivately fostered children in a variety of arrangements but they're notalways easy to find," said Felicity Collier, chief executive of theBritish Association for Adoption & Fostering. "It confirms what a lot ofwork local authorities have to do," added Robert Tapsfield, chiefexecutive of the Fostering Network.
New private fostering regulations, which came into force in England on 1July, require every authority to promote awareness about the need tonotify them of arrangements. These figures cover the period before thisnew duty came into force.
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