Harrow Council has reaffirmed its commitment to the Foster with West London Regional Fostering Hub, a strategic move aimed at enhancing the recruitment of foster carers and improving support for children in care. The decision, finalised at a Portfolio Holder Decision Meeting on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, directly addresses the national decline in fostering homes, a trend that has led to an increased reliance on more costly residential care and a deprivation of family life for children.
The Foster with West London hub represents a collaborative initiative involving eight London boroughs: Harrow, Ealing, Brent, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, and Hammersmith & Fulham. This partnership is designed to leverage central government funding for a comprehensive foster carer recruitment programme, a critical step in response to the national shortage.
The hub, which commenced operations in May 2024, has already demonstrated significant success. A report presented to the council highlighted a 37% increase in approved foster carers across the region, exceeding the Department for Education's (DfE) targets. Harrow alone has seen five new foster carers approved through the initiative. Beyond the number of approved carers, the hub tracks performance through metrics such as Stage One completion rates (up 192%) and Stage Two completion rates (up 933%), indicating a robust pipeline of applicants. The DfE also mandates regional data oversight, including dashboards that monitor volume, conversion rates, timescales, and retention at 6, 12, and 24 months.
This initiative aligns with the DfE's Renewing Fostering: homes for 10,000 more children
programme. From September 2026, the DfE is expanding the hubs' responsibilities to encompass the entire recruitment process, from initial inquiry through to approval and ongoing support. While the programme has benefited from grant funding, local authorities will be required to contribute between £230,000 and £240,000 annually from 2027/28 to ensure its long-term sustainability. For the 2026/27 financial year, Harrow's contribution is estimated to be between £60,000 and £70,000.
The projected long-term benefits of the hub include facilitating more local placements for children, thereby reducing expenditure on independent fostering and residential care. This also aims to minimise travel for education and family visits by keeping children within their communities. The sustainability plan hinges on local authorities pooling budgets and sharing resources, with annual contributions from 2027/28 ensuring the hub's self-sufficiency.
Councillor Paul Osborn, Leader of the Council, approved the continued membership and granted the Strategic Director of Children's Services the authority to make decisions regarding the hub, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Children's Services. The report noted that while the hub has performed well, the increased future funding requirement may necessitate a restructuring of Harrow's Fostering Service. This potential restructuring is intended to be supported by the council's Families First
reforms. These reforms are designed to enable service redesign and release funding
and are described as prompting all children's social care departments to remodel themselves, to be more supportive of kinship care, supporting more children staying at home than being in care.
An Equality Impact Analysis (EIA) will be conducted as the end-to-end model is developed during the 2026/27 period. The EIA will focus on ensuring inclusive and accessible recruitment methods, diverse community engagement, and support for carers with differing needs and characteristics,
alongside monitoring of demographic representation across the recruitment pipeline.
The decision supports Harrow Council's strategic priority of being A place where those in need are supported.
Further details can be found in the Public reports pack for the Portfolio Holder Decision Meeting.
