§ Mr. Gerald HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost of providing foster homes and their equivalent in(a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999. [120664]
§ Mr. HuttonInformation on the unit cost of providing foster homes and their equivalent is not available for 1970 and 1980. Provisional data taken from "Social Services Performance in 1998–99—The Personal Social Services Performance Assessment Framework" indicate that the unit cost of foster care for 1998–99 was £199 per child per week.