§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he will be taking to ensure that independent fostering agencies are inspected against the recently introduced National Standards in Foster Care in order to ensure the safety and protection of vulnerable children likely to be placed with such agencies. [95528]
§ Mr. HuttonAs we announced in the White Paper "Modernising Social Services", independent fostering agencies (IFAs) will be brought into the regulatory framework and will have to be registered and inspected by the new Commissions for Care Standards (CCSs). This will of course be subject to the introduction of appropriate legislation. The National Standards for Foster Care will be used as a basis for developing new regulatory standards for the CCSs. As an interim measure the Department is planning to introduce a voluntary accreditation scheme for IFAs.