What is the difference between private and council fostering?
‘Private’ fostering can refer to fostering arrangements made directly by the child’s parents, or, in this case, fostering arranged by the council (local authority) via an independent fostering provider.
Needs of the children
Local authorities (councils) have their own fostering teams so when a child needs a fostering home, the local authorities will always approach their own foster carers first. If none of the local authority foster carers can be matched to the child, the local authorities will approach independent fostering providers. As a result of this, independent fostering providers are typically asked to care for children with more complex needs. That said, in 2024 almost 50% of children were matched with children in independent fostering providers, so the range of children cared for by independent providers is very wide.
Supervisory and training support
Levels of supervision can vary between providers; typically it’s assumed that local authority social workers have higher workloads and therefore can offer less support. However, this should be considered in the context that the carers of independent providers typically care for children who have more complex needs.
That said, there are some local authorities and independent providers who have high staff turn over and offer poor supervision; and there are others who provide excellent support. Sparks Fostering has a low turnover of staff, offers support worker assistance to all foster carers and has protected time between workers and foster caers each week.
Furthermore, some providers have adapted to online training, recordings and support whereas others are still paper based and have mostly face to face learning and support. The different approaches suit different foster carers. For instance, at Sparks Fostering the majority of training and support is remote and carers are expected to complete recordings directly onto agency software. The Sparks Fostering carers and staff consider this approach to be more efficient; whereas carers who don’t have the necessary IT skills are signposted to other providers.
Ofsted rating
Research carried out by Sparks Fostering (2024) on North West fostering providers found that 100% of independent fostering providers are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted; whereas only 39% of local authorities were rated Good or Outstanding.
That said, Local authorities are inspected as a whole by Ofsted, which means that Ofsted ratings reflect the whole of children’s services, not only the fostering service.
All Ofsted reports can be reviewed on the Ofsted website.
Sparks Fostering was rated Good/Good/Outstanding by Ofsted in 2024.
Fees vary
It is typically assumed that local authorities give higher fees and allowances to foster carers than independent providers; however, research carried out by Sparks Fostering in 2024 on fees shared on North West provider websites found that the average fees quoted by local authorities average at £499 per child per week; and the fees quoted by independent providers is £526 per child per week. This isn’t a significant different given that fees vary according to the age of the child, care needs for the child and experience of the foster carers.
Cheshire West local authority and St Helens stated that they offer up to £1,000 for ‘specialist carers’; whereas the highest fees for independent providers was £750 per week from Sparks Fostering, Family Care Fostering; and Capstone. Again these figures should be considered cautiously because the local authority fees are likely to refer to ‘parent and child’ arrangements or highly complex needs; whereas the independent provider fees are more achievable for carers. Indeed, Sparks Fostering is paying all current carers £750 per week, including new carers because all carers are caring for teens with additional needs.
Profit making providers
Independent providers are sometimes criticised for being ‘profit making’. Some independent providers are private, whereas others are cooperatives, charities or not-for-profit organisations. The status of the provider doesn’t necessarily determine how effectively the fostering budget is used or the pay scales of senior managers and owners. Also, there are over 300 Ofsted registered independent fostering providers; and the profit margins are only known for a few very large fostering providers.
There has been some research comparing the cost to the local authority of fees paid to independent providers as opposed to fees paid to internal foster carers. The cost to the local authority of paying independent providers is higher, arguably because the fees include the overheads to the fostering provider (such as staffing, insurance, registrations, premises etc.). It is currently unclear how much local authorities are spending in real terms (i.e. including overheads) per foster carer so it’s unclear whether local authorities or independent fostering providers are offering more financially efficient systems.
