Philip Davies – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential for misuse of the kinship carer system.

Mr Edward Timpson

Children live with kinship carers for a wide range of reasons: parental difficulties, mental or physical ill health, divorce or separation, imprisonment or bereavement. The circumstances and legal statuses of children and carers in these arrangements vary widely. There is not, therefore, a single “kinship carer system” and for this reason the Government has not given consideration to making an assessment of the potential for any general misuse of kinship care arrangements

In 2011, the Department for Education issued ‘Family and Friends Care: Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities’,[1] this guidance is clear that children and young people unable to live with their parents should receive the support they and their carers need to safeguard and promote their welfare, whether or not they are looked after.

[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-act-1989-family-and-friends-care

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