AN apology has been made by the most senior official of Devon County Council about the performance of its fostering service.

Chief Executive Donna Manson said efforts were being made to improve it but that the process of assessing potential foster carers had been inadequate.

“There is an absolute recognition and apology from us as a staff group that we haven’t quite got it right in responding to foster carers in recent years and we want to make sure we can get this right now,” she said.

“We know the service is on an improvement journey and we have had lots to do, but the fostering service is a really important partner and we need help to get it right.”

The cabinet heard that Devon had seen a 30 per cent decline in foster carer numbers since the pandemic – down to around 225 from approximately 325 before Covid – meaning more children in care were having to be put into residential care homes.

Ms Manson emphasised that the level of support needed to make the foster service better could “only happen with members of this council” putting every effort into promoting and supporting it.

She added that a report put to the council’s cabinet acknowledged a key improvement that needs to be made.

“Many people have applied to become foster carers and the process wasn’t the best for them, so within this paper is an absolute commitment for us to do a better job in how we interact with people who do come forward,” Ms Manson said.

“I want to publicly say that for some people who came forward, we didn’t have the level of capability or service to get it right for those people, and our door is open to re-engage with you to get it right as we know many people were lost in that process and we would love to welcome them back.”

Papers show the fostering service is only recruiting between 10 and 12 foster carers a year, even though around 240 enquiries are made. The council now has a target to recruit 28 in the 2027/28 financial year.

The comments come as the cabinet agreed to spend an additional £2 million on top of the service’s £12.2 million annual budget.

The majority of the increase relates to the continued payment of the flat rate basic allowance for foster carers, plus other fees.

Councillor Graham Bell (Liberal Democrat, Braunton Rural) welcomed the additional funding, but noted the pressure on the fostering service in Devon and the need to rethink how money gets to foster carers.

Councillor Michael Fife Cook (Reform UK, Yelverton Rural), said the report showed it was a “pretty dire situation”.

The council recently appointed Councillor Robin Julian (Reform UK, Bideford West and Hartland) as its fostering member champion.

Cllr Julian, who was elected to Devon County Council last year but previously held a seat between 2013 and 2017, has also served as a special constable in Sussex.