§ Clive EffordTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) what action he is taking to improve recruitment rates of foster carers for London boroughs; what has been the change in use of agency foster placements(a) for each borough and (b) for London as a whole in the last
1222W
Housing benefit recipients in each London borough as a percentage of the total population aged 16 or over in the Government office region of London: 1995 to 2002 London borough 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Barking 0.33 0.33 0.32 0.31 0.3 0.29 0.26 0.26 Barnet 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.34 0.33 0.31 0.29 0.3 Bexley 0.21 0.21 0.22 0.21 0.19 0.18 0.17 0.17 Brent 0.6 0.6 0.57 0.54 0.5 0.43 0.4 0.38 Bromley 0.29 0.29 0.28 0.26 0.25 0.24 0.23 0.22 Camden 0.6 0.6 0.58 0.54 0.51 0.48 0.47 0.46 City of London 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 Croydon 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.42 0.35 0.37 0.36 Ealing 0.49 0.49 0.46 0.43 0.38 0.38 0.26 0.32 Enfield 0.33 0.33 0.38 0.36 0.35 0.3 0.3 0.3 Greenwich 0.49 0.49 0.49 0.48 0.47 0.38 0.37 0.37 five years; what steps he is taking to limit the cost of agency foster care placements in London; and what representations he has received on this subject; [69153]
(2) how many looked-after children there were in the care of each London borough and how many were (a) in borough foster care, (b) fostered with family or friends, (c) in agency foster placements and (d) in care homes in each of the last five years. [69216]
§ Jacqui SmithI have been asked to reply.
A table has been placed in the Library which provides total numbers of looked-after children, and the proportion in foster care and in residential care in each London borough for years ending 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2001.
The breakdown of placements between family and friends care, in-house placements, and agency placements is collected on the SSDA 903 statistical return, a one-third sample of anonymised care histories of looked-after children. In 2000–01 a breakdown of in-house and agency placements has been collected for the first time. However the resulting figures for these particular placement categories are too small to form a reliable basis upon which to estimate activity for individual London boroughs. Therefore such a breakdown has not been included in the table.
A national campaign for recruiting foster carers was carried out in 2000 by the Department.
Local authorities commission placements according to their needs and strategies, and will negotiate with agencies accordingly. It is the responsibility of local authorities to consider and agree the level of payments that it makes to fulfil the needs of those children who require these services.
The role of independent foster agencies will be reviewed in the context of the current "Choice Protects" review, announced on 20 March, and in particular in relation to the Government's plans to improve the number and quality of placement options for looked-after children.