ONLY five children would need to move from independent foster placements to in-house providers for a council to meet a 90 per cent target.
A council committee was told in October that presently 87 per cent of its foster placements are with its own in-house foster carers rather than those from independent fostering agencies which operate at a profit.
The councillor responsible for children’s services Richard Clark said he was “positive” about its position.
Torfaen Borough Council has a target to increase this figure to 90 per cent, by March 2027, as part of its response to Welsh legislation that aims to end the role of for-profit firms in providing children’s care by April 2030 with demands on councils being phased in.
At the full council’s Tuesday, November 3 meeting Reform UK councillor David Thomas raised the shortfall against the target and the loss of 10 “mainstream” foster carers, representing some 24 placements, during 2025/26 which he described as a “serious challenge” for the council in meeting the 90 per cent target.
In response Labour cabinet member Cllr Clark said the information cited by the Llantarnam councillor was “gleamed from a South Wales Argus report from a scrutiny committee on placement sufficiency.”
Cllr Clark said: “I would advise Cllr Thomas, and others, to view that scrutiny committee which to me, having sat through it, was far more positive than the newspaper article.”
He added: “What is disappointing is the newspaper article and headline has been approached from a negative perspective and has not highlighted the improving and positive position where the council stands in terms of the percentage of in-house foster placements.”
Cllr Clark said across Wales some 68 per cent of children in foster care are with in-house local authority carers while, at 87 per cent, Torfaen, he said, has a “very much higher” percentage.
The figure had risen, from 75 per cent, and Cllr Clark said: “To go to 90 per cent is a realistic target”.
He said: “To add further context, as of today, 16 children are placed with independent foster placements and 104 are in-house so to achieve that 90 per cent requires a shift of five placements.”
During the October meeting social services chiefs emphasised placements are made in the best interest of the child, rather than being driven by targets.
Cllr Clark, who quoted figures that weren’t provided at the October scrutiny committee, said it should also be noted two of the 16 placed with independent providers are unaccompanied child asylum seekers and said “their diverse needs are best met outside this local authority where their cultural needs can be met.”
Efforts to address a national shortage of foster carers are also being taken by the council, as was highlighted in the newspaper article, written by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Those include recruitment campaigns and working in collaboration with Foster Wales the national network of local authority fostering services.
Cllr Clark also highlighted the reduction in the number of children in care in Torfaen, from a peak of 479, to 295. That figure was included in the October article which also stated it is the council’s goal to reduce the number of children in, and entering, care.
Cllr Clark said reducing overall demand for care is the “key measure of success” and while the council can demonstrate it has increased its own provision of foster placements he added: “I would rather come before this council in March 2027 and say we have less children that need to be looked after rather than we have more available placements”.
He also urged any councillors interested in fostering children to contact him to be put in touch with the appropriate officers.