Fewer households in Buckinghamshire are applying to provide foster care than before the pandemic, new figures show. 

Data from Ofsted shows that 15 households in the county applied to the local authority to provide foster care in the year to March - down from 25 before the pandemic. 

No households enquired about fostering between April and March. 

There are currently 80 local authority-managed foster households in Buckinghamshire including five newly-approved ones. 

It comes as the number of foster care places across England continues to decrease, putting services under 'immense pressure' according to charity, The Fostering Network.

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Authorities and agencies across the country received 8,500 applications from prospective foster households in the year to March, up from around 8,000 the previous year. 

But despite this, the total number of approved foster care places has fallen to its lowest level in five years with 18,860 households providing 37,430 places as of March. 

Figures are rounded to the nearest five, while further households may have applied and been approved through independent fostering agencies.

Sarah Thomas, chief executive of The Fostering Network, said the figures highlight "the immense pressure foster care is under", warning this will have "a detrimental impact on children and families".

"The fewer foster carers we have, the more children who may end up in residential care or in homes away from their families and friends," she added.

"Action needs to be taken to make fostering more sustainable – we urgently need a UK-wide fostering strategy that addresses the retention of foster carers as much as recruitment."

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Colette Ferns, head of Fostering and Adoption England and Scotland at Action for Children, said England's broken care system is failing to deliver stable and loving homes.

She added the cost-of-living crisis often prevents prospective households from fostering as the costs associated with caring for a child can be a major barrier.

Ms Ferns urged the Government to take swift action and increase the availability of foster care families and children’s homes and ensure the national fostering allowance covers the care costs.

Nationally, 28,165 enquiries were made to local authority services, though just 3,020 applications were submitted.

Yvette Stanley, Ofsted’s national director for social care, said: "It’s a big concern that the number of fostering families continues to fall.

"Foster carers make such a difference to children’s lives, but year on year we see more children coming into foster care, and too few carers with the right skills to give them the support they deserve."

She added there has been a positive increase in the number of friends and families foster carers — also known as kinship carers.

"Last year, the Government announced a national kinship care strategy with a commitment to improve support for kinship carers and their children," she said.

"This was very welcome, but we also need to urgently boost the number of foster carers and make sure that they, and the children they care for, get the right support."