The government says it wants to recruit 10,000 more foster carers by the end of the next parliament, launching what ministers describe as a major drive to reverse a long-term decline in support for vulnerable children.
Backed by £88m in funding, the plan promises to open fostering up to younger and more diverse households, sweep away what it calls outdated rules, and ensure carers are better supported so fewer leave the system altogether.
The announcement has been broadly welcomed by fostering charities, who say the ambition must be met with more investment.
The government argues that the new plan is a reset that simplifies bureaucracy, strengthens regional fostering hubs, tests more flexible models of care and offers clearer financial and practical support, with ministers insisting that no one should be worse off for fostering.
But carers on the frontline have told Sky News that the crisis is deeper than recruitment alone.
Jamie Hirst, who fosters three teenage boys in Stockport, said the system is already “at breaking point”.
“The system needs a full overhaul, not just a bit of rearranging,” he said. “Pretty much everyone is at capacity now.”
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Jamie says it is not the behaviour of the young people that pushes carers to the edge.
“I’ve had knives in my face, I’ve had punches thrown at me. I can cope with that,” he said. “It’s the support, and the lack of support, by the children’s social workers.”
This is not the first time ministers have promised to fix the foster care shortage.
Over the past decade, successive governments have announced recruitment drives aimed at making fostering more attractive and improving support for carers, including commitments made in the 2018 fostering reforms and the 2022 children’s social care strategy.
But, despite those pledges, the number of foster carers has continued to fall.
In England, approved carer numbers are down by nearly 12% over the past decade, with more carers leaving than joining, according to Fostering England figures.
Former foster carer Bryony Farmer says that the lack of support is exactly why she left.
She said: “I had to leave fostering because I found the system was just too challenging to work with. We’re not just warm hearts and a spare room; we are professionals doing a role that is incredibly challenging.
“We are trying to rewire children’s brains in a way that not even the best neurosurgeons can do and that takes time and patience and it needs a system which supports us and not works against us.”
Around 99,000 children are living in care in Britain, yet there are only about 49,000 fostering households available to look after them, according to The Fostering Network.
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Experts estimate the system is already short of around 8,000 foster carers, a gap that has been growing year on year.
Even sector leaders who welcome the government’s focus say it does not go far enough. Sarah Thomas, chief executive of The Fostering Network, says the cost-of-living crisis is forcing carers out.
She said: “Foster carers tell us that due to the cost of living crisis, they do not have the funds in order to enable them to continue fostering.
“It is why people are leaving and we really call on the government to ensure they put more investment into the finance and remuneration of fostering in the UK.”
In England alone, the number of approved foster carers has fallen by almost 12% over the past decade. The drop accelerated after the COVID-19 pandemic, just as the number of children entering care continued to rise.
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With too few foster homes available, more children are placed far from their communities or moved into residential care – settings that are often more disruptive, more expensive, and in some cases open children up to exploitation and abuse, said Ms Thomas.
Residential care is also far more expensive.
Local authorities spent £4.7bn on residential placements in 2022, according to the Local Government Association – money councils say is increasingly hard to find.
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Minister for Children and Families, Josh MacAlister, said: “Reversing the decline in the number of available foster places is an urgent priority for me because fostering is so vital to our wider mission to give vulnerable children the best possible start in life.
“We’re bringing fostering into the 21st century, removing outdated rules and unnecessary barriers to become foster carers as part of our overhaul of the care system.
“Foster carers give children the stable, loving relationships they need to recover from trauma and thrive. If you’ve ever considered fostering, I would urge you to look into this incredible vocation that can transform a child’s life.”
