Torfaen Borough Council to Miss Target of 90% of Children in Care with In-House Foster Carers by March 2027

A TARGET that 90 per cent of children in a council’s care are placed with its own in-house foster carers is set to be missed. 
The March 2027 target is part of a response to Welsh legislation that aims to end the role of for-profit firms in providing children’s care by April 2030 with the legislation, and demands on councils, being phased in. 
At present the private sector provides 87 per cent of residential homes and 28 per cent of fostering placements in Wales and Torfaen Borough Council, like other authorities, is working on plans to ensure sufficient placements are available when firms operating for profit are no longer able to provide care in Wales. 
But the council, like others, is also struggling to recruit foster carers while its plan includes the target to increase placements with in-house foster carers to 90 per cent by this coming March. 
The council last year also saw a reduction in the number of foster carers with a net loss ten “mainstream foster carers” in 2025/26 which was a net loss of 24 placements 
Councils have been required to produce placement sufficiency plans for the Welsh Government setting out their response to the legislation.  
Kirsty Cooke, Torfaen council’s manager for children and family services, said its draft plan is “quite clear” on meeting the challenge of the 90 per cent target when she presented it to the children and families scrutiny committee.  
She said the council has identified from 2024 to 2027 it will need to increase the number of foster care placements, rather than households, by between 25 and 30. 
Torfaen currently has 87 per cent of its looked after children placed with in-house carers and Ms Cooke told the committee: “That is close to 90 per cent.” 
She said the council is continuing to try and recruit foster carers but acknowledged: “There is a lot of consideration about whether or not we are able to get those additional places.” 
The manager also said struggles to recruit foster carers is a national issue despite what she said was an uptick in interest: “Across Britain and Wales we are seeing more inquiries but not necessarily seeing the rates of conversion we would like.” 
Figures show of 93 initial fostering enquiries in Torfaen, from April 2025 to March 2026, just 23 progressed to initial visits with 16 allocated for assessment and eight households approved. That compared to 94 initial enquiries and five approvals in the previous year. 
Ms Cooke said the way initial enquiries are recorded changed some two or three years ago to log them from when someone first approaches the recruitment team at events and it maintains contact with those people even if they aren’t ready to move to the assessment stage. 
The committee was told the council’s work to reduce the number of children entering care, and increasing the number who can safely return to their families, also forms part of reducing demand and the need for foster care and residential placements. 
Social services director Jason O’Brien said the number of children in the council’s care had reduced from a peak of 479 to 295 at present with the council target to have less than 260 children looked after by March 2028. 
It also aims to open two small children’s homes but has struggled to attract sufficient interest from operators who could run them. Mr O’Brien said the council is likely to take advice from its partner Blaenau Gwent Borough Council, which already staffs and runs its own children’s homes, as it considers operating models with another tender process likely. 
The committee was also told uncertainty among existing among providers, some of which have indicated they intend switching to not for profit models, has also contributed to some increases in prices for in demand care placements. 
The council has to present its plan to the Welsh Government in January and the committee said it was satisfied with the council’s approach while Ms Cooke said she would look again at how the draft addresses placements for children with complex needs.  ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​