WATE-(24) Response Historic

Mandate stringent, independent vetting for all foster parent applications, especially staff

Recommendation

Similar vigilance should be mandatory in relation to all applications for approval as foster parents. In particular, any application to foster by a member of a local authority's child care staff should be stringently vetted by a social worker who is not known to the applicant.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
No specific published evidence has been identified confirming the mandating of stringent, independent vetting for all foster parent applications, particularly for local authority child care staff, as recommended. Although gov.uk search results indicate potential government responses and implementation updates for the Waterhouse Inquiry, the content of these documents is not available to verify specific actions. No legislation directly referencing the Waterhouse Inquiry was found on legislation.gov.uk.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 24 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Historic

No government response recorded.

Source
Report Waterhouse Inquiry — Final Report 16 Feb 2000
Recommendation age 26.1 yrs
Last formal update No formal updates