Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what legislation is in place to ensure that family members who look after children in care are appropriately remunerated; and what steps he is taking to prevent the use of time limited arrangement orders as a substitute for foster care arrangements.

Local authorities are responsible for placing looked-after children in the most appropriate placement according to their needs. If the local authority wants to place looked after child with a family member or friend, the carer must be assessed and approved as a foster carer, although in an emergency time limited approval can be given on a temporary basis. Local authorities have duties to ensure they provide all carers of looked after children with appropriate support. Ofsted inspect local authorities with regard to their performance on placing and supporting looked after children.