Harrow Council has approved its continued membership in the Foster with West London Regional Fostering Hub, a decision aimed at boosting the recruitment of foster carers to support children in care.

The Portfolio Holder Decision Meeting, held on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, saw Councillor Paul Osborn, Leader of the Council, agree to the recommendations to maintain Harrow's participation in the hub. This initiative is part of the Department for Education's (DfE) national programme, Renewing Fostering: homes for 10,000 more children, which seeks to address a decline in the number of available foster homes.

The Foster with West London hub, a collaboration between eight London boroughs including Harrow, Ealing, and Brent, provides access to DfE central funding for an end-to-end foster carer recruitment process. The report presented to the council highlighted that the hub, launched in May 2024, has already achieved a 37% increase in approved foster carers across the region, exceeding the DfE's target. Harrow itself saw five new foster carers approved through the hub.

To achieve this increase, the hub has employed several strategies. These include supporting the 'Mockingbird' model, which offers a network of foster households that support each other, mirroring an extended family structure. The hub also delivers a sub-regionalised approach to recruitment and support for prospective foster carers, aiming to increase enquiries and ensure a positive recruitment experience. The DfE has mandated that regional hubs expand their responsibilities to cover the entire foster carer recruitment process, from initial enquiry to approval and ongoing support, commencing in September 2026.

Under the expanded remit of the DfE programme, regional hubs will be responsible for the entire recruitment process, from initial enquiry to approval and ongoing support. While the programme has received grant funding, local authorities will be expected to contribute between £230,000 and £240,000 annually from 2027/28 to ensure the hub's self-sustainability and cover ongoing operational costs. Harrow's contribution for the 2026/27 financial year is estimated to be between £60,000 and £70,000, supported by DfE grants and previous underspends.

Councillor Osborn agreed to delegate authority for decision-making regarding the hub to the Strategic Director of Children's Services, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Children's Services. The decision aligns with the council's priority of being A place where those in need are supported.

While the report noted that the increased funding requirement from 2027/28 may necessitate a restructuring of Harrow's Fostering Service, the council's Families First reforms are intended to facilitate service redesign and release funding. These reforms are also described as enabling 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.

Potential environmental benefits include children remaining within their communities, reducing travel for education and family visits. An Equality Impact Analysis (EIA) will be conducted as the end-to-end model is developed during 2026/27. This analysis will focus on ensuring inclusive recruitment methods, diverse community engagement, and support for carers with differing needs and characteristics, while also monitoring demographic representation across the recruitment pipeline.

A key risk identified is that the hub does not deliver the anticipated increase in new fostering households for Harrow. This is being mitigated by the positive trajectory of performance to date, the regional fostering model providing greater support to foster carers as an incentive, and the council's sufficiency strategy which includes alternatives to fostering locally. Another risk is that the Increased funding required creates a pressure on the Fostering Service budget, which is being addressed through whole system reform via the Families First Programme.

The success of the Foster with West London hub will be measured using key performance indicators (KPIs) tracked through Regional Data Oversight dashboards. These will monitor volume, conversion, timescales, and retention at 6, 12, and 24 months.

Further details on the meeting can be found in the Supplemental Agenda and the Public reports pack.