The Welsh Government launched a consultation on Changes to two codes of practice: Part 6 and Special Guardianship Orders. The Part 6 Code of Practice (Looked After and Accommodated Children) is guidance on the exercise of a local authority’s responsibilities under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. The consultation on the changes to the Codes follows two earlier consultations; the first one on Corporate Parenting which sought views on adding a dedicated corporate parenting chapter to the Part 6 Code that would provide guidance for local authorities to support their role as corporate parents. The second consultation on Improving Adoption, Fostering and Kinship Care was linked to regulatory updates as well as changes to terminology.
We welcome the Welsh Government’s intent to strengthen aspects of the Code and were pleased to see some positive changes reflected. However, in our response we raised concerns that the amendments do not go far enough to ensure consistency, transparency and accountability across Wales. Our Wales Youth Advisory Board and foster carer and team managers advisory boards informed our response, and we highlighted that clearer statutory requirements, national frameworks and stronger monitoring arrangements are needed to ensure the changes lead to meaningful improvements in practice.
The proposed wording changes to the Part 6 Code includes an additional section on corporate parenting to be added into the preamble, including corporate parent panels as an example of good practice which we think should be mandated.
We also welcome the new wording on the handling of children’s personal belongings during moves and the reference to NYAS’ My Things Matter campaign. However, we believe that setting out clear structures to avoid the use of inappropriate bags completely could have strengthened the wording.
Changes have also been made to kinship visits and reviews in the Code that reflect the recent regulatory amendments to the Fostering Panels and Care Planning (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2026 whereby visits must now happen at least every 6 months and reviews must take place at least every 12 months. Although the changes intend on creating greater flexibility for kinship carers, we are concerned that this may result in kinship foster carers experiencing less support.
Finally, the proposed wording changes states mainstream, kinship and temporarily approved foster carers may be eligible for an enhanced fostering allowance (fee). While it is positive that this clearly sets out all foster carers should be included, we were disappointed that the amended wording does not set out a national fee framework or national eligibility criteria and it will therefore still be at the discretion of local authorities to determine their own eligibility criteria for the enhanced allowance for foster carers.