New Children’s Minister Josh MacAlister Puts Fostering Front and Centre in First Ministerial Visit

The government’s renewed focus on fostering is a welcome and timely step towards addressing the national shortage of carers. As delivery partner for the Department for Education’s Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme, Mutual Ventures is seeing fostering hubs gain traction by doing things differently to improve the carer journey.

Josh MacAlister, the newly appointed Children’s Minister, has wasted no time in signalling his priorities - placing fostering firmly at the heart of children’s social care reform.

On his very first official visit in post, he travelled to Warrington to meet foster carers and staff at the Foster4 Recruitment Hub, a regional collaboration of nine North West local authorities. His visit sends a clear message to the sector: fostering is an urgent national priority.

“My first visit as a Minister was to speak to foster carers. There’s a reason for that - we need a lot more foster homes in England.”

This emphasis aligns directly with the goals of the Department for Education’s Fostering Recruitment and Retention Programme (FRRP), launched in July 2023 to address the critical shortage of foster carers for our most vulnerable children by improving the recruitment experience.

Mutual Ventures are proud to be the DfE’s delivery partner for the programme, supporting ten regional clusters to design and implement fostering recruitment hubs that offer a more joined-up, supportive journey for prospective carers. These hubs have now been running for over a year, with many marking their first anniversary in May.

The FRRP has given local authorities the space and support to rethink how fostering recruitment is done. Instead of operating in isolation or competing for the same pool of carers, councils are now working together and sharing resources, expertise, and data to build a more consistent and effective recruitment journey.

While the hubs are still testing and refining their support offers, signs of impact are beginning to emerge as the hubs start to embed. Across the country, innovative approaches are also taking shape, from experienced foster carers joining recruitment teams to bespoke training programmes tailored to local need, all of which are helping to build a more supportive and consistent experience for prospective carers.

The lessons emerging are also powerful. When local authorities are empowered to challenge the status quo – to be bold, collaborative, and focused on the carer experience - real change becomes possible.

We’re excited to continue supporting on this vital priority - supporting the hubs go further and faster and by sharing learning across the wider children’s sector. The FRRP is showing that progress doesn’t come from doing more of the same, but from doing things differently - and doing them together.

For more information on the Recruitment and Retention Programme click here.