To approve the adoption of the West Midlands Regional Foster Care Framework for the provision of foster care services from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2023; with the option to extend for up to a further year at an estimated spend of up to c.£3.5 million per annum. Actual spend will depend upon demand from the number of children looked after by the council and the capacity of the council’s in-house fostering service to meet that demand.

The current framework agreement expires on 31 March 2020 and there is no option to extend.  Sandwell Children's Trust has taken the lead on behalf of the region on a re-procurement exercise for a new framework which is due to go live on 1 April 2020.  Joining the framework ensures that Herefordshire can continue to achieve good value and quality when placing looked after children with independent foster care providers. Joining the framework allows access to a pool of regionally approved fostering agencies. It does not commit the council to spend via the framework. The council will search for placements for individual children via the framework, and will purchase from the framework if a suitable match is found for that child. If a suitable match can not be identified, the council would extend its search to, and may purchase from, the wider market of agencies that have not joined the framework.