The Senedd elections are taking place on Thursday 7 May and political parties have published their manifestos outlining their priorities for the next Welsh Government. At The Fostering Network, we shared our own manifesto with political parties to highlight our top campaign priorities, which we believe will improve foster care and the lives of care experienced children.
Our manifesto for Wales
Every child deserves stability, love and belonging and should be at the centre of decisions that affect their lives. We are calling on all political parties to:
- Focus on care-experienced children and young people, so that every child is supported to reach their full potential and thrive.
- Support foster carers and respect their skills, knowledge and expertise as equal and valued members of the team around the child.
- Invest in & reform the wider system supporting children and young people with care experience so it truly values foster care and can support families at the point of need.
Wales Party manifestos
We have reviewed the main parties' manifestos to see what they have included around children’s rights and children’s social care. Most of the priority areas identified positive inclusions on education support, tackling child poverty and strengthening mental health provisions as key commitments.
We were pleased to see many of our top priorities around early intervention included by Plaid Cymru and several specific improvements on fostering and children’s social care from Labour and the Greens. We also welcome the inclusion of children’s rights through Bil Pob Plentyn (A Law for Every Child) from the Liberal Democrats. Disappointingly the Conservatives did not include anything on children’s social care and Reform’s manifesto contains very little on this area. Both the Conservatives and Reform manifestos include some concerning policy proposals to end the ‘Nation of Sanctuary’ for Wales which will affect many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in care. The Nation of Sanctuary is a Welsh Government plan to “help all people seeking sanctuary to integrate well with communities in Wales.”
Welsh Labour
We are pleased Welsh Labour’s manifesto pledges to “reform the care of looked-after children” with a focus on keeping children closer to home wherever possible. We are particularly pleased that the manifesto mentions building on our Step-Up, Step-Down programme and strengthening support for kinship and special guardianship carers.
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru’s manifesto emphasises early intervention and children’s wellbeing as priorities which we are pleased to see, as well as plans to embed specialist trauma-informed youth services within schools as part of a pilot of a new “wrap around Community Schools Plus programme”. We also welcome the inclusion of a new Human Rights Act to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as has been done in Scotland.
Wales Green
The Wales Green party’s manifesto includes plans to continue the work on removing profit from children’s social care, in line with the Health and Social Care (Wales) Act 2025. We also welcome that the manifesto highlights placement stability in children’s care as a priority, and for care experience to become a protected characteristic under equality law.
Welsh Liberal Democrats
We are pleased to see the proposal of Bil Pob Plentyn (A Law for Every Child) included in Welsh Liberal Democrats’ manifesto to "enshrine the rights of children and young people in Wales”. This landmark proposal includes many issues we have been campaigning for at The Fostering Network for some time.
Welsh Conservatives
We are pleased the Welsh Conservative’s manifesto includes developing a “Tackling Poverty Action Plan” that includes specific strategies to address child poverty, including putting accountability and progress measures in place. However, we would have liked to have seen more focus on specific priorities for children’s social care, as the number of children in care is continuing to rise each year. The proposal to scrap the ‘Nation of Sanctuary’ raises concerns for the welfare of unaccompanied asylum seeking children in care.
Reform UK
We are pleased that Reform UK’s Wales manifesto has prioritised care leavers under 25 for social housing, alongside Armed Forces veterans and survivors of domestic abuse. At The Fostering Network, we are calling for national support for care leavers to be extended to the age of 25. However, we would have liked to have seen more on children’s rights and support for children and young people in general in the manifesto. We are also concerned about the inclusion of the proposal to end Wales ‘Nation of Sanctuary’ status as this will affect many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in care.
Senedd Elections
We look forward to working with whoever forms the next Welsh Government to ensure fostering and children's social care is a top priority.
Find out more about the Senedd elections and elected candidates in your area:
