To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he is taking to encourage more people to become foster parents; and if he will make a statement.

Guidance has been given to local social services authorities on recruitment of foster parents at paragraphs 3.7–3.11 of volume 3, "Family Placements", in "The Children Act Guidance and Regulations" series (HMSO). A copy is in the Library of the House.Grant is given to the Wales Centre of the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering Organisation, one of whose activities is to run an annual "Find a Family" campaign in co-operation with local social services authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many children have been (a) adopted and (b) fostered in each year and in each county in Wales since 1979; and if he will make a statement.

The total number of adoption orders made each year in England and Wales since 1979 is

1. Number of children placed under private foster arrangements in Wales1
	Clwyd	Dyfed	Gwent	Gwynedd	Mid Glam	Powys	South Glam	West Glam	Wales
1979	21	14	3	2	22	2	30	—	94
1980	28	10	3	4	17	29	40	1	132
1981	24	4	3	7	19	26	17	3	103
1982	9	4	12	6	17	4	12	3	67
1983	15	6	13	5	21	4	14	1	79
1984	7	6	6	5	17	2	18	2	63
1985	8	6	9	2	13	1	15	1	55
1986	15	6	6	6	16	1	17	—	67
1987	12	11	8	9	13	—	16	—	69
1988	16	4	11	14	—	1	16	—	62
1989	18	12	6	6	1	2	11	—	56
1990	15	6	8	5	—	6	6	—	46
1991	15	8	5	7	1	3	4	—	43
1 At 31 March each year.

Data for 1979 and 1980 relates to children in foster homes supervised under the Children Act 1958.Data for 1981 onwards relates to private fostering arrangements supervised under the Foster Children Act 1980.

2.Number of children in local authority foster care in Wales1
	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991
Clwyd	245	269	258	245	229	219	200	227	227	224	207	220	210
Dyfed	143	146	139	155	130	134	128	128	134	151	172	175	214
Gwent	292	288	278	301	308	297	291	302	307	325	323	377	341
Gwynedd	134	134	141	166	176	179	176	181	173	173	178	162	155
Powys	271	310	347	372	355	363	377	389	393	386	377	423	378
Mid Glamorgan	33	33	41	50	54	44	29	30	35	35	46	36	33
South Glamorgan	288	307	299	306	292	303	330	354	341	352	301	306	316
West Glamorgan	213	222	221	228	255	258	266	280	295	326	293	295	303
Wales	1,619	1,709	1,724	1,823	1,799	1,797	1,797	1,891	1,905	1,972	1,897	1,994	1,950
1 At 31 March each year.