Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to recruit an adequate number of (a) short breaks foster carers and (b) community short breaks carers to care for children with disabilities.

Local authorities have a duty to ensure they have sufficient placements that meet the needs of their looked-after children in their area, this includes foster care placements for short breaks. These placements are for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and children with behavioural difficulties to enjoy a short stay on a planned, regular basis with the same short break-carer as a strategy to relieve strain on a permanent placement or birth family.

Data on the approved households for each placement type can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/childrens-social-care-statistics.

It is vital that local authorities can find the right carers to meet the needs of vulnerable children. The department commissioned behavioural insights research which commenced in November 2019, to explore the barriers and motivations of prospective carers and seek recommendations for more targeted approaches in local recruitment. We will share these findings with fostering services and recruitment managers.

The department also recently funded 7 feasibility studies in commissioning and sufficiency planning, bringing together local authorities with their partners to explore innovative practices, including collaborative approaches to foster care recruitment. We are also exploring whether digital approaches could help us in supporting local authorities to improve matching of children to carers.