§ 5. Miss Lestorasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will ascertain and publish the number of children in care of local authorities who have been in care of foster parents for five years or more.
§ Sir K. JosephI regret that this information is not collected centrally and could be obtained only by a special inquiry.
§ Miss LestorWill the Minister let the House know of his feelings and what his recommendations will be regarding the suggestion in the Houghton Report on fostering and adoption about the availability of children in that category for adoption by their foster parents? Will he also assure the House that, in view of that suggestion and many other far-reaching suggestions in the Houghton Report, a White Paper will be issued on this matter to allow full and free debate before any Bill is introduced?
§ Sir K. JosephI am in the midst of studying the Houghton Report and the comments on it, which are coming in from bodies concerned with the subject. The lack of central statistics does not mean that we need persuading that the particular subject is of great importance.
On the other parts of the hon. Lady's question, I shall consider what she has said and write to her.