Child care : sixth report from the Select Committee on Estimates together with minutes of evidence taken before Sub-Committee E and appendices, session 1952-1953.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Estimates.
Date:
1952
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Child care : sixth report from the Select Committee on Estimates together with minutes of evidence taken before Sub-Committee E and appendices, session 1952-1953. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ~ | SELECT COMMITTEE ON ESTIMATES XV nS SR 15. The Curtis* and Clydet Committees also considered the question of the rates of payment to foster-parents. At that time there was no fixed scale of payment in either England and Wales or Scotland. Both committees recommended standardisation of the rates of payment. The Curtis Committee considered representations that the payment to a foster-parent should include an element of remuneration. Their con- clusions, however, were against this suggestion. Those of the Clyde Committee were similar. The latter committee expressed the view that “No one who is doing this work merely for the financial benefit involved will make a good foster-parent. ... The ideal is to fix a scale of payment which will be sufficient to pay its way without consti- tuting an inducement to do the work for the sake of the profit involved ”. Annexes In 1950, the two Secretaries of State made broadly similar arrangements | (32) and controlling the total expenditure of each local authority for boarding 2 ®) out.t A local authority is left free to determine the amount spent on any child boarded out, provided that the authority’s expenditure in a financial year does not exceed 40s. weekly per child boarded out. This amount includes expenditure on clothing, pocket money, holidays and other necessary items, but does not take account of salaries and other administrative costs incurred by the authority. This arrangement allows local authorities to exercise discretion in their payments for individual boarded-out children, and when necessary to make exceptional payments to meet exceptional needs. 16. As shown in Table 3, the estimated cost per child boarded out per week for 1952-53 is £1 8s. 10d. in England and Wales and £1 6s. 3d. in Scotland. These figures compare with an estimated average weekly cost of £5 5s. Id. in England and Wales and £5 9s. 11d. in Scotland for every child in a local authority home (again without taking the central administrative costs of the local authority into account). They reveal the striking and most unusual fact that what is generally agreed to be the best method of providing for children in the care of local authorities is also the cheapest. They also point the way towards possible major economies which, far from endangering the fulfilment of the policy laid down by Parliament, would actually promote it. 17. The following table shows the progress made in boarding out in Annex 1 (24) England and Wales since the Act of 1948 came into force :— TABLE 4 England and Wales Number of Children Percentage of boarded out Children in Care 1949 (actual) IO 2Tr ‘ ah si 51) DO50 tS QUSTLO. OM as Bi < by et sales 7 ee ae 7 ihe BA 39 1952-53 (estimated) 27,379 . o 4] There is no great difference (according to the figures as on 30th ,,nrey 1 November, 1951) between the average percentage for all counties and (Appendix that for all county boroughs. Within each of those groups, however, IID there is wide variation between individual authorities, the figures for * See Report, paragraphs 469 and 470, and recommendation 26. _ + See Report, paragraphs 53 and 54, and recommendation 5. . + In Home Office Circular No. 15/1950, of ist February, 1950, and in Circular No. 7366, of 14th March, 1950, issued by the Scottish Home Department.