The Scrutiny & Petitions Committee of Scottish Borders Council met on Thursday 28 May 2026 to discuss the foster care service and review previous minutes. The committee noted the national and local context for foster care recruitment and retention, and agreed that further outcome-focused reporting would be beneficial.

Scottish Borders Foster Care Service

Rachel Mitchell, presenting in place of Gareth Stott, provided an overview of the Scottish Borders Foster Care Service's approach to recruitment and retention. The presentation highlighted the national shortage of foster carers, with an estimated shortfall of 400 across Scotland, and the increasing complexity of children's needs. Locally, while there has been an improvement in recruitment since 2015, with the highest number of new carers since 2017, retention remains a challenge.

The council's strategic objective is to strengthen local family-based care capacity to enable children to remain connected to their families, schools, and communities, thereby reducing the need for placements at a distance. Traditional recruitment methods are yielding weaker returns, with prospective carers increasingly engaging through digital channels. The service has implemented new digital recruitment strategies, including a refreshed landing page and search engine optimisation, which have led to an increase in enquiries. Community engagement remains important, with trust and local relationships supporting informed inquiries.

Councillor James Anderson raised concerns about the lack of clear targets for retention rates and net growth. Rachel Mitchell explained that while a recruitment target of three foster carers was set for the year, retention targets have not been formally established due to the difficulty in quantifying factors influencing it. She reassured the committee that locally, carers are generally leaving the service due to retirement, which is seen as a positive indicator of service delivery.

Councillor Anderson also highlighted the issue of lengthy permanence timescales, which can negatively impact children and new families. Rachel Mitchell acknowledged this as a complex issue involving multiple parts of the system, but confirmed it is a focus for the adoption service this year, with discussions underway with CELSIS to improve data tracking.

The discussion also touched upon the introduction of mobile phones and internet policies, with Councillor Anderson suggesting this be reviewed as part of an overall partnership working programme. Rachel Mitchell stated she would look into this, noting it was not something passed to her but could be explored.

Councillor Hannah Steel inquired about any age limits for foster carers. Rachel Mitchell confirmed there is no maximum age, but a health check is undertaken to ensure carers are healthy and active enough for the demands of parenting. She also clarified there is no minimum age, but applicants must demonstrate life experience and reflective thinking.

Rachel Mitchell shared her background as a qualified social worker with 15 years of experience in children and families, having previously managed fostering, adoption, and kinship care services in another local authority. She expressed her enthusiasm for returning to family placement work and her commitment to fostering collaborative working between the family placement and children and families teams.

The committee noted the national and local context for foster care recruitment and retention, including the sustained challenges facing the fostering workforce. They also agreed that further outcome-focused reporting would be beneficial and identified no specific areas where they wished to make recommendations to the executive or officers at this time.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 March 2026 were agreed.

The next meeting of the Scrutiny & Petitions Committee was scheduled for Thursday, 13 August 2026, at 10 am.