Wales updates fostering panels and care plans, Apr 2026

From 1 April 2026, Wales will introduce new rules for fostering panels and care planning. If you are a student social worker, a foster carer, or part of a kinship care family, this is your quick guide to what is changing, why, and when. The instrument is Welsh Statutory Instrument 2026 No. 16, made on 23 January 2026 and published on legislation.gov.uk.

This update amends two existing sets of rules: the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (Wales) Regulations 2015 and the Fostering Panels (Establishment and Functions) (Wales) Regulations 2018. In simple terms, it refreshes how often children are visited and reviewed, clarifies who counts as part of a household, and updates how prospective foster carers are assessed-especially relatives and friends.

First, visiting schedules. Where a child is placed with a connected person under section 81(6)(a) of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014-usually a relative, friend or someone with a prior relationship-the responsible authority will set the visiting frequency after consulting the Independent Reviewing Officer and, using the 2015 Regulations’ terms, the foster carer, the parents and the child. These visits must happen at least every six months.

For other placements that are intended to last until the child turns 18 but are not made under section 81(6)(a), visits must take place at intervals of no more than three months. In all other cases, the maximum gap between visits remains six weeks. If you are planning rotas, this gives you three clear tiers: up to six weeks, up to three months, or up to six months depending on the placement type.

Second, review meetings. As a rule, subsequent reviews of a child’s case happen at intervals of no more than six months. The new regulations keep that standard but make an exception for connected person placements under section 81(6)(a). In those cases, the responsible authority sets the frequency following consultation, and the maximum interval is twelve months.

What this means in practice is a more proportionate approach for kinship care. Teams can pace visits and reviews to fit the stability and risk profile of the household while staying within clear upper limits. For families, it should feel less intrusive where things are going well, and more responsive if extra support is needed.

Definitions matter here. The 2018 regulations are clarified so that when they refer to members of a person’s household, that also includes anyone living in the home under a local authority placement or other arrangements. This helps assessments reflect the real composition of who lives in the home day to day.

Assessing prospective foster carers also changes. Providers must collect the information set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 for most applicants, and use a new Part 3 when the applicant is a relative, friend or other person connected to the child. Part 3 focuses on family dynamics, protective capacity, cultural and linguistic background, current commitments, and any support or interventions needed to care for a named child.

Providers can also gather any other information they consider relevant and no longer have to frame everything under a generic 'household and family' label. A small language tidy-up corrects an English drafting error to 'addresses'. These tweaks are about clarity rather than raising the bar.

Information sharing gets a firm timeline. If an applicant has previously been approved by another fostering services provider, including in England, and gives consent, the new provider must request previous assessment reports, the most recent review of approval, and the statutory records held under Welsh regulations or the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011. Requests must be made in writing.

When a provider receives such a request, they must share the information within 15 working days and cannot charge for it, unless some other law prevents disclosure. For applicants, this should reduce delays when moving between providers and avoid repeating assessments that already exist.

Dates to remember and who signed it. The regulations were made on 23 January 2026 and come into force on 1 April 2026. They were signed by Dawn Bowden, Minister for Children and Social Care, acting under the authority of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. A Regulatory Impact Assessment is available from the Welsh Government, as noted in the official notice.

If you work in a local authority or fostering service, use the next two months to update visit and review templates, train panels and Independent Reviewing Officers on the new consultation step, and refresh assessment forms for kinship applicants. Build in prompts to record consultation with the foster carer, parents and the child, and set review dates that fit the household, keeping within the six‑month and twelve‑month limits where they apply.

If you are a foster carer or a connected person thinking about applying, expect your assessment to look closely at your relationships, routines, and what support would help you care for a named child. If you have fostered before, you can consent to your previous provider sharing your records; you should not be charged and the transfer should happen within 15 working days.