The Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009

Regulation 24

SCHEDULE 6MATTERS AND OBLIGATIONS IN FOSTER CARER AGREEMENTS

1.  The support and training to be given to the foster carer.

2.  The procedure for the review of approval of a foster carer.

3.  The procedure for handling of complaints against foster carers.

4.  The procedure in connection with the placement of children, and in particular–

(a)the matters to be covered in foster placement agreements and the respective obligations, under any such agreements, of the local authority and the foster carer;

(b)the financial arrangements which are to exist between the local authority and the foster carer, including any special financial arrangements in relation to particular categories of children who may be placed with the foster carer;

(c)the local authority’s arrangements for meeting any legal liabilities of the foster carer arising by reason of a placement; and

(d)the procedure available to foster carers who wish to make representations to the local authority which placed the child.

5.  The foster carer’s obligation to give written notice to the local authority forthwith, with full particulars, of–

(a)any intended change of address;

(b)any change in the composition of the household, any other change in personal circumstances, any other event affecting either the foster carer’s capacity to care for any child placed or the suitability of the household and any criminal convictions arising between approval and subsequent reviews; and

(c)any further request or application of a kind mentioned in paragraph 11 of Schedule 3.

6.  The foster carer’s obligation–

(a)not to administer corporal punishment to any child placed with them;

(b)to ensure that any information relating to a child placed with them, to the child’s family or to any other person, which has been given in confidence in connection with a placement is kept confidential and is not disclosed to any person without the consent of the local authority;

(c)to comply with the terms of any foster placement agreement, to care for the child placed with the foster carer as if the child was a member of that person’s family and in a safe and appropriate manner and to promote the child’s welfare having regard to the local authority’s immediate and longer-term arrangements for the child;

(d)to notify the local authority immediately of any serious illness of the child or of any other serious occurrence affecting the child; and

(e)where the placement is terminated, to allow the child to be removed from their home by the local authority.