Information on the numbers of children that are (a) in recognised foster care and (b) subject to special guardianship or residence orders with friends or family other than their parents is not collected centrally by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).
Information on looked after children who were taken into care is collected in the annual SSDA903 return which is completed by local authority social services departments in England. The SSDA903 return does not distinguish whether a foster care is recognised or not. The closest data available are the number of children in the North East of England that are in foster care at 31 March 2006. The information is available in table 4 at:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000721/TablesfinalRENAMED.xls.
The data do not distinguish whether looked after children subject to special guardianship or residence orders are with friends or family other than their parents. The closest data available are the number of children who ceased to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2006 in England by reason episode ceased and age on ceasing. Please note that the information only shows the number of children who ceased to be looked after because of the granting of a special guardianship or residence order who are living in all types of placement, and not just for those who are placed with friends or family other than their parents. The information is available in table AH at:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000721/All_National_Tables.xls