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WEEK ENDING 4TH OCTOBER 2026
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A lot is changing in fostering right now. And much of it is happening behind the scenes.
NUPFC has been engaging with the Department for Education as the new Fostering Quality Standards are developed, and we have also been responding to proposals around how Ofsted inspects children’s social care.
These aren’t abstract policy documents, they will shape what is expected of foster carers, how fostering services operate, what Ofsted looks at, and ultimately how the system works around children and the people caring for them.
So we want to ask foster carers something very simple: If you could sit down with the DfE and Ofsted and tell them one thing about fostering standards or inspection, what would it be?
What do they need to understand about what actually happens on the ground?
Tell us below, or email us because we will be reading the comments, and taking your views into those conversations.
Join us and be part of the change you want to see: https://nupfc.com/join/
Date: 28/09/2026
“Most, if not all, insurance companies require payment before they will insure you. I don’t know of any that will insure you after the fact. An insurance company may recommend legal advice at full cost though. I would imagine the NUPFC works under the same principle”
It’s actually a really good question, and one we completely understand people asking.
The simple answer is that a trade union works a little differently from an insurance policy, but the principle of planning ahead is much the same.
As Robin, our General Secretary, explained recently, members pay a small amount each month, from just £10, which builds the fund that enables the union to provide representation and support when members need it.
That matters because fostering can suddenly become very complicated. An allegation, an investigation or a dispute can require a huge amount of professional time and support. One allegation can easily cost thousands of pounds in casework.
And this is why joining before something happens is so important. It means you have already put that protection in place, rather than having to find it when you are already in the middle of a crisis.
But we also know that sometimes people only discover NUPFC when something has already gone wrong. We don’t simply want to tell a foster carer, “Sorry, you should have joined earlier.”
Where someone comes to us with an existing problem, we can still offer a route into support, with a contribution towards the cost of dealing with that existing case.
So yes, planning ahead matters, not because foster carers should somehow be expected to predict when something will go wrong, but because we know that things can go wrong, and having your union behind you before they do gives you a much stronger position.
For £10 a month, membership is about making sure that when you need your union, you already have one.
Don’t delay, join today: https://nupfc.com/join/
Date: 29/09/2026
School dinners, so what is actually happening for foster children?
There has been quite a lot of discussion about the changes to free school meals, including the recent coverage in Children & Young People Now.
From September 2026, all children in households receiving Universal Credit in England are entitled to free school meals.
But other fostered children (the majority not in UC households) are not covered simply because they are looked after, because the cost of school meals comes out of the fostering allowance, money that is already intended to cover the everyday costs of caring for a child.
There always seems to be a postcode lottery in fostering so we want to know what is actually happening on the ground.
Are the children you care for receiving free school meals?
If not, are you paying for school dinners from the fostering allowance?
Does your local authority provide any additional help?
Have you been given clear information about what you are entitled to?
We’re particularly interested in hearing from carers across different local authorities, because sometimes the gap between what the policy says and what families actually experience is where the real story is.
Join us: https://nupfc.com/join/
Date: 30/09/2026
No foster carers. No foster care.
We talk constantly about recruiting more foster carers, but the foucus should be on retention, because even if you recruit them you have to retain them.
So if we genuinely care about children having stable, skilled and committed family-based care, we need to care about the people providing it.
Foster carers are not an optional extra in children’s social care, they are fundamental to it, they are it.
And that is why NUPFC exists.
You matter to us: https://nupfc.com/join/
Date: 01/10/2026
What does £10 actually buy?
It doesn’t buy a magic shield against everything that can go wrong in fostering, it does something much more important, someone in your corner.
Every month, members contribute to the union. That means when one foster carer suddenly finds themselves facing an allegation, an investigation, a dispute or a serious problem at work, there is a fund behind them and a union there to provide support. That’s how a union works.
You don’t join because you expect something to go wrong.
You join because you know that, sometimes, it does.
And you don’t have to face it alone.
For foster carers, NUPFC membership starts at just £10 a month.
Because sometimes the most valuable thing you can have is knowing that when you need your union, you already have one.
Date: 02/10/2026
We’re raising £50000 to Support Foster Carers’ Supreme Court Case for Fair Rights
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