Question: How confident are you that we have a clear and adequate set of minimum standards for foster carers?

Gerri McAndrew: There is currently a huge variation in the standard of foster care across the UK. We welcome the Government's new draft minimum standards for England and Wales and were pleased to see a number of the Fostering Network's own existing UK National Standards reflected in them. However, we believe that these minimum standards do not go far enough. They apply only to agencies in how they are set up and how they will be inspected, whereas our UK standards - which were previously endorsed by all four governments - are more child focused and provide a far more holistic and comprehensive approach to delivery of a high-quality foster care service.

Question: Why is there such a variation in foster service?

Gerri McAndrew: My belief is there hasn't been a national lead at central government level in relation to the fostering service, as there has been regarding adoption. In fact the fostering service provides for 40,000 children and young people in any one year, but has not been given the priority it deserves. We would like to see the full application of our UK National Standards across the country, and for them to be given status and prominence equal to that of the recently published Adoption Standards.

Question: Is it the case that some foster carers receive benefits and others don't? Why isn't there, for instance, a uniform allowance?

Gerri McAndrew: Central government says this is a local authority issue, and so the issue of developing a national rate of pay, for instance, or a consistent status for carers, often gets caught between central government politics and local government politics. The belief is that, because carers are local and live in local communities, it is local authorities which have the responsibility for ensuring they are adequately catered for. As a result, there is great inconsistency in the structure and delivery of the service.

In fact the Fostering Network publishes recommended allowances for foster carers, which cover the cost of caring for a fostered child. This is the minimum we believe fostering services should be paying to carers across the UK. In addition we would like to see reward schemes implemented which pay carers for their skills.

Question: Do you think it needs more central direction?

Gerri McAndrew: It definitely needs more of a central direction. Currently, different government departments have differing views regarding the status of foster carers and hence the service. Confusion exists over whether carers are employed, self-employed or volunteers, and indeed whether they should be paid at all. And because of this ambiguity, carers often can't access some of the benefits that are available to other people.

Question: Does this mean we need to have a minister for fostering and adopting?

Gerri McAndrew: We should definitely have a Commissioner for Children. That is what's already happening in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. There is a Minister for Children in England, but foster care does not appear to be on his agenda. Generally, what would be wonderful would be to have a champion for children at government level, who recognised the special needs of fostered children.

Question: It sounds as if it needs to have a government department or unit, or at least some sort of central bureaucracy to try and tie the local and regional ends together?

Gerri McAndrew: The responsibility for foster care lies with the Department of Health, and through their Quality Protects programme there have been some additional resources over the last three or four years for looked after children.

But my belief is that because foster care is seen to be the responsibility of the Department of Health - because it represents a service for children in care - other government departments believe that it is "being dealt with". Yet children in foster care also live in communities, go to local schools, are looked after by local families; they should be able to access the mainstream policy developments.

Question: So it falls between a number of departments, that's the problem?

Gerri McAndrew: It does seem to do so, although foster care is directly under the responsibility of the Department of Health. People somehow marginalise the foster care service because they believe it's being dealt with by the Department of Health, whereas in reality it should be more mainstream because what the foster care service does is actually keep families together in communities.

Question: When you say more mainstream, what would you propose - it is moved out of the Department of Health, or up the political agenda?

Gerri McAndrew: I think foster care should be moved up the political agenda, because it has a crucial role to play in children's services. There should be more all-party and cross-government department consideration given to it. For instance, I believe that there ought to be an equivalent review by the PIU unit in the Cabinet Office, and the same scrutiny that was given to the adoption service should be given to the foster care service. The foster care service actually provides for many more children than the adoption service does. Changes in adoption law and policy are welcome, but the same attention needs to be given to children needing foster care services.

Question: Do we have enough foster carers?

Gerri McAndrew: Unfortunately, no. In 2000 we ran a recruitment campaign on behalf of the Government, based on figures from local authorities which said they needed an additional 7,000 carers just to keep up with delivering the service, let alone develop it. The campaign attracted over 1,000 expressions of interest that were sent into local authorities.

But it's not just about quantity. We believe that children should be able to live with a carer carefully chosen to meet their needs. We must therefore widen the range of skills available, by recruiting people with the same linguistic and cultural backgrounds as the children who need the care.

Question: So the government perhaps needs to spend a bit more to attract a few more?

Gerri McAndrew: £2 million was put into that particular campaign; this was welcomed, but again, little in comparison to the recruitment of nurses or teachers. Recruitment is an ongoing process, and needs ongoing attention. It's also essential for the Government to address some of the other issues I've mentioned - such as clarifying the status of carers to facilitate consistent policies on tax, benefits and pensions - in order to make fostering attractive enough to bring people into fostering who currently have other careers.

Question: When you gave oral evidence on the Adoption and Children Bill, you said unmarried and same sex couples should be allowed to adopt as it's worked out well in fostering. What are the number of same sex unmarried couples fostering children?

Gerri McAndrew: Research into a group of same sex couples who've fostered children demonstrated that these couples have met the needs of children placed with them. The issue for us is not somebody's sexuality but their skills to care for children who are exceptionally vulnerable.

Question: Some argue that a child who is fostered by same sex couples could be bullied at school. Have you found any evidence of that?

Gerri McAndrew: We are certainly not aware of any evidence of this. If you look at society as a whole, there are many children who are already living with unmarried couples, including same sex couples.

Question: So if the government has allowed it for fostering, why are they so reluctant with adoption?

Gerri McAndrew: My view would be that foster care isn't seen as a permanent arrangement, despite the fact that some fostered children live with their carers until adulthood. Adoption is by definition a permanent arrangement and therefore causes the Government to consider the issues differently. The fact remains that it's not the sexuality of the foster carer or adopter that's the prime issue; it's their capacity and skills to provide care to very vulnerable and often traumatised children.