Sector stability The IFA sector accounts for 43% of mainstream fostering households, up from 40% in 2019. This is largely because of a net decrease of 11% in the number of mainstream LA households from 2019 to 2023, with minimal change in the number of IFA households. Since 2021, there have been year-on-year net decreases in the number of mainstream fostering households in both the IFA and LA sectors (figure 2). Figure 2: Year-on-year net change in mainstream fostering households by sector over the last 5 years Estimates are included in the number of households as at 31 March 2020. View the data for figure 2 in an accessible table format. All regions had a net decrease in the number of mainstream LA households between 2022 and 2023. The percentage in registered IFA households varied across different regions (figure 3). Figure 3: Percentage change in number of approved mainstream fostering households by region between 31 March 2022 and 31 March 2023 View the data for figure 3 in an accessible table format. Joiners and leavers The number of applications in 2022 to 2023 (8,010) was the lowest in several years, at 18% lower than 2018 to 2019 (9,740). In 4 of the last 5 years there has been a year-on-year decrease in applications. Over the same period, the number of deregistrations has fluctuated. This year, the number of leavers exceeded the number of joiners (figure 4). Figure 4: Total approved mainstream households at the start and end of the collection period with in-year joiners and leavers View the data for figure 4 in an accessible table format. The proportion of applications completed in-year has remained steady over the last 5 years, this year at 65%. This year, one third of these were approved (34%). At the end of March 2023, there were 3,805 newly approved households, representing a 26% decrease since 2019. Figure 5: Applications received in 2022 to 2023, by status on 31 March 2023 This flowchart shows that, of the 8,010 applications received in 2022 to 2023, 5,190 were completed and 2,815 were still in progress as at 31 March 2023. Of the applications completed in-year, 1,740 were approved, with 3,395 withdrawn and 55 rejected. Of the withdrawn applications, 2,070 were withdrawn by the applicant and 1,325 by the service. This chart is not to scale. Figures are rounded, so subtotals may not sum to the totals in adjacent rows. View the data for figure 5 in an accessible table format. Of the fostering households that held approved status at some point during 2022 to 2023, 13% had deregistered by the end of the year (5,125 of 40,130). Among mainstream households that deregistered this year, LA households had been registered for longer on average (7 years) than IFA households (5 years). The data we collect also includes the number of initial enquiries and referrals to the Independent Review Mechanism. This is published in an aggregated form in the underlying dataset for this release. We plan to publish an additional report on fostering recruitment next year, which will include a discussion of the data on initial enquiries. Foster carers As at 31 March 2023, there were 59,380 approved mainstream foster carers, an 8% decrease from 2019 (64,295). Of these, 11% were approved during the year. LA agencies accounted for almost half (48%) of these new approvals. This is lower than the proportion of all LA-approved mainstream foster carers (57%) active in March 2023. In the LA sector, the number of carers has decreased by 12% since 2019. Fostering households As at March 2023, it was most common for mainstream households to be approved for non-permanent foster care (49%) or permanent foster care (40%) as their primary care type. In line with previous years, many households (62%) offered multiple types of foster care. This was higher in the IFA sector (85%) than the LA sector (44%). LA households have a lower proportion of households approved for 3 or more children (27%) than IFA households (42%) (figure 6). Figure 6: Household size for all approved and newly approved mainstream fostering households as at 31 March 2023 Totals include households approved for zero children. All figures are rounded, so subtotals may not sum to the totals in brackets. View the data for figure 6 in an accessible table format. Fostering places As at 31 March 2023, there were 72,770 approved mainstream fostering places. This is a decrease of 8% compared with 2019 (78,995). There was a 12% decrease in the LA sector and a 3% decrease in the IFA sector over this period. A similar proportion of places were filled across both the LA and IFA sectors – 61% and 62% respectively. This has remained stable over the last 5 years. Since 2019, the number of vacant places has fallen by 25% across both sectors combined (figure 7). As a proportion of approved mainstream fostering places, vacant places reduced from 20% to 17% between 2019 and 2023. The most substantial decrease in vacant fostering places over this period was in the LA sector (figure 8). This year, 1,635 household places were used exclusively for short breaks, which is equivalent to 2% of all approved mainstream places. This proportion has remained steady over the last few years. Figure 7: Number of filled, vacant and not available mainstream fostering placements as at 31 March each year, over the last 5 years Estimates are included in the number of places as at 31 March 2020. View the data for figure 7 in an accessible table format. There are a number of reasons why a fostering place may be recorded as ‘not available’. You can read more about this in the statistical glossary. Figure 8: Number of vacant mainstream fostering placements as at 31 March over the last 5 years by sector Estimates are included in the number of places as at 31 March 2020. View the data for figure 8 in an accessible table format.