Inspection of fostering services
In England, Scotland and Wales all fostering services are governed by legislation, regulation, standards and statutory guidance. To measure compliance with these, fostering services are subject to regulation and inspection by the relevant national care inspection body. The care inspection bodies are also responsible for the registration of fostering services and set standards which must be met before registration is granted. It is illegal to operate a fostering service prior to registration.
The relevant inspection bodies are:
- England: Ofsted
- Scotland: Care Inspectorate
- Wales: Care Inspectorate Wales
In Northern Ireland there is an inspection body (The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority) but there is no inspection of fostering services as there are no standards against which to inspect.
Published Standards
All inspections are made against a set of published standards which are applicable to the individual nation states and as such are different in England, Scotland and Wales. Therefore it is important that services ensure that they are operating as per the required national framework where they are registered. All of the standards have the same general aim which is to ensure that children who are looked after by people other than their parents receive the best possible care and that the services who provide that care are responsible for meeting an agreed standard.