The Welsh Government’s bid to remove private profit from the care of children looked after in Wales is set to move into its second phase. TACT is in support of the move – having already played an active part in their own campaign to remove profit from foster care.

Whilst the Welsh Government set out their plans to remove profit from children’s services in 2025 by amending their Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, its next phase will take effect by 1^st April 2027.

The route of this change in legislation was, in part, due to a response from young people themselves. They told the Welsh Government that they were concerned about being cared for by privately owned organisations that were making a profit from their experience of being in care.

The Welsh Government’s first phase, already in effect from 1^st April 2026, stated that new ‘for-profit’ fostering providers were not eligible to register with the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW). Existing for-profit fostering agencies could still operate but would face the first of two further restrictive deadlines beginning on 1^st April 2027: they will no longer be able to approve new foster carers.

The final deadline, at least at this point in time, will not come into effect until 1^st April 2030, and will mean that children will not be able to be placed in a for-profit agency by an English local authority except in exceptional circumstances. Welsh local authorities will only be able to do so with the agreement of Welsh Ministers.

The changes being phased in by the Welsh Government are less about forcing for-profit fostering organisations to cease trading and more about making it unviable to profit from fostering. The deadlines allow affected agencies to transition to charitable or community-based providers if they wish to continue operating in the sector.

TACT Fostering made a commitment to the Welsh Government’s objectives in 2024 when they acquired the for-profit agency Foster Care Values (FCV), based in Conwy, North Wales. Andy Elvin, CEO of TACT Fostering, said: “Foster Care Values is an excellent fostering agency with whom we share many values and an ethos that puts children and young people at the heart of all that we do, but as a family-owned and run for-profit agency, their model was not aligned with the Welsh government plans. This partnership has provided stability and reassurance of a long-term future, for the children, staff and foster carers.”

A key focus for TACT Fostering has always been to help instigate change in the fostering sector at a governmental level. However, with their CEO also the chair of The Fairer Fostering Partnership, an umbrella organisation representing charitable and not-for-profit fostering providers, profit making in foster care has always been a key topic on their agenda; the charity would like to see the removal of profit from the fostering sector on a national level.