The rankings

Local authority fostering rankings for England

October 2026 measurement. How we measure

FosterScope ranks local authority fostering services and regional fostering hubs in England by Findability Score, a 0 to 100 measure of how easy each one is to find on Google and in AI assistants. In the October 2026 rankings, Devon ranks first with 73.7 and the middle score is 54.1. We scored 136 of the 150 services we measure. The other 14 are listed at the end as not measured, with the reason.

Read the methodology

How are the scores spread? 100 of 136 services score in the 40s and 50s.

Number of scored local authority fostering services in each score band
Score band	Services
0s	0
10s	2
20s	2
30s	6
40s	26
50s	74
60s	23
70s	3
80s	0
90s	0
Middle score (median)	54.1

SearchFilter by regional fostering hubInclude services we could not measureShowing 150 of 150 services

See what’s driving each score

The 4 checks behind every score are named by AI assistants, found on Google, website can be read, and structured data. Give us your email and we’ll send you a link.

See the 4 checks behind every score

We changed how we measure fostering visibility this month, so part of each change since September comes from an update to our method, not only from changes a service made.

Rank	Service	Hub	Findability Score	Movement
1	Devon	Fostering South West	73.7
2	Salford City Council	Foster for Greater Manchester	72.8
3	Buckinghamshire Council		70.2
4	Ealing	Foster with West London	69.9
5	Bristol	Fostering South West	69.8
5	Swindon Borough Council	Fostering South West	69.8
7	Cheshire East	Foster4	69
8	Dudley Council		68.8
9	Shropshire Council		68.4
10	West Sussex County Council		68.2
11	Redcar & Cleveland	Foster with North East	68
12	North East Lincolnshire Council		67.9
13	Sandwell Council		67.7
14	Birmingham City Council		67.5
15	Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council		63.9
16	East Sussex County Council		63.2
17	Reading	Local Authority Fostering South East	62.7
18	East Riding of Yorkshire	Foster 4 Your Council	62.1
19	Oxfordshire	Local Authority Fostering South East	62
19	Wokingham	Local Authority Fostering South East	62
21	Kingston upon Hull	Foster 4 Your Council	61.7
22	Waltham Forest	Local Community Fostering	61.1
23	Surrey	Local Authority Fostering South East	60.9
24	Dorset	Fostering South West	60.5
25	Herefordshire Council		60.1
26	Liverpool	Foster4	60
27	Blackpool	Foster With Us	59.7
27	Bradford	Foster 4 Your Council	59.7
29	Bury	Foster for Greater Manchester	59.5
29	St Helens	Foster4	59.5
31	Lancashire	Foster With Us	59.3
32	Cornwall	Fostering South West	58.9
32	North Somerset	Fostering South West	58.9
34	Halton	Foster4	58.8
35	Redbridge	Local Community Fostering	58.5
36	Cheshire West and Chester	Foster4	58
37	Newcastle upon Tyne	Foster with North East	57.9
37	Sheffield City Council		57.9
37	Suffolk County Council	Foster East	57.9
40	London Borough of Barking and Dagenham	Local Community Fostering	57.7
40	Milton Keynes	Local Authority Fostering South East	57.7
40	Rutland County Council		57.7
40	Westmorland and Furness	Foster With Us	57.7
44	Darlington	Foster with North East	57.6
45	Nottinghamshire	Foster for East Midlands	57.4
46	Knowsley	Foster4	57.2
47	Walsall Council		57.1
48	Middlesbrough	Foster with North East	56.8	First month measured
49	Leicester City Council		56.7
49	Sefton	Foster4	56.7
51	Kirklees	Foster 4 Your Council	56.6
52	Bracknell Forest	Local Authority Fostering South East	56.3
52	Peterborough City Council	Foster East	56.3
54	Brighton & Hove City Council		56.2
55	City of York Council	Foster 4 Your Council	56.1
55	Northumberland	Foster with North East	56.1
57	Leeds	Foster 4 Your Council	56
58	Tower Hamlets	Local Community Fostering	55.9
59	Essex County Council	Foster East	55.5
60	Hartlepool Borough Council	Foster with North East	55.4
61	Derbyshire	Foster for East Midlands	55.3
62	Thurrock Council	Foster East	55.2
63	Derby City Council	Foster for East Midlands	55.1
64	Somerset	Fostering South West	55
65	Portsmouth	Local Authority Fostering South East	54.7
66	Bedford Borough Council	Foster East	54.6
67	Manchester	Foster for Greater Manchester	54.4	First month measured
68	Richmond upon Thames	Local Authority Fostering South East	54.1
68	Warrington	Foster4	54.1
70	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	Fostering South West	53.9
70	London Borough of Hounslow	Foster with West London	53.9
70	Windsor & Maidenhead	Local Authority Fostering South East	53.9
73	Calderdale	Foster 4 Your Council	53.6
74	Cambridgeshire County Council	Foster East	53.5
74	Hertfordshire County Council	Foster East	53.5
76	Bath and North East Somerset	Fostering South West	53.4
77	Slough Borough Council	Local Authority Fostering South East	53.3
78	Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council		53.2
79	Stockport Council	Foster for Greater Manchester	53
80	Coventry City Council		52.9
80	Rochdale Borough Council	Foster for Greater Manchester	52.9
82	London Borough of Camden		52.7	First month measured
83	Cumberland	Foster With Us	52.5
84	Bolton Council	Foster for Greater Manchester	52.3
84	Tameside	Foster for Greater Manchester	52.3
84	Telford & Wrekin Council		52.3
87	Hampshire County Council	Local Authority Fostering South East	52.1	First month measured
87	Oldham Council	Foster for Greater Manchester	52.1
89	County Durham	Foster with North East	51.9
89	London Borough of Merton		51.9
91	Worcestershire County Council		51.8
92	Kent	Local Authority Fostering South East	51.6	First month measured
93	North Yorkshire	Foster 4 Your Council	51.3
93	Wigan	Foster for Greater Manchester	51.3
95	North Tyneside Council	Foster with North East	51.2
96	Stoke-on-Trent City Council		51.1
97	Medway Council	Local Authority Fostering South East	51
98	London Borough of Hackney		50.7
99	Gloucestershire	Fostering South West	50.6
100	London Borough of Bexley		50.4
101	Wirral	Foster4	49.8
102	Kingston upon Thames	Local Authority Fostering South East	49.5
103	Southampton	Local Authority Fostering South East	49.1
103	Trafford Council	Foster for Greater Manchester	49.1
105	Plymouth	Fostering South West	49
106	Luton Borough Council	Foster East	48.8
107	London Borough of Hillingdon	Foster with West London	48.7
108	London Borough of Brent	Foster with West London	48.4
109	Kensington & Chelsea	Foster with West London	48.3
110	London Borough of Havering	Local Community Fostering	47.9
111	Central Bedfordshire Council	Foster East	47.8
112	London Borough of Harrow	Foster with West London	47.4
112	London Borough of Wandsworth		47.4
114	Foster4	Regional fostering hub	47
115	Southend-on-Sea City Council	Foster East	46.9
116	London Borough of Croydon		46.6
117	London Borough of Haringey		45.9
118	Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council		45.8
119	London Borough of Islington		45.6
120	London Borough of Sutton		45.3
121	Nottingham	Foster for East Midlands	44.3
122	North Northamptonshire Council		43.5
123	London Borough of Southwark		43.2
124	Foster for Greater Manchester	Regional fostering hub	42.7
125	South Gloucestershire	Fostering South West	41.9
126	City of Wolverhampton Council		41
127	Newham	Local Community Fostering	38.7
128	Fostering South West	Regional fostering hub	38
129	Westminster	Foster with West London	37.9
130	Foster for East Midlands	Regional fostering hub	37.3
130	West Northamptonshire Council		37.3
132	Foster with West London	Regional fostering hub	36.8
133	Local Community Fostering	Regional fostering hub	27
134	Foster 4 Your Council	Regional fostering hub	25.3
135	Local Authority Fostering South East	Regional fostering hub	18.8
136	Foster With Us	Regional fostering hub	17
·	Blackburn with DarwenOur check timed out	Foster With Us	Not measured	Not measured
·	City of Doncaster CouncilWebsite blocks automated access		Not measured	Not measured
·	Foster EastWebsite blocks automated access	Regional fostering hub	Not measured	Not measured
·	Foster with North EastWebsite blocks automated access	Regional fostering hub	Not measured	Not measured
·	GatesheadWebsite blocks automated access	Foster with North East	Not measured	Not measured
·	Isle of WightWebsite blocks automated access	Local Authority Fostering South East	Not measured	Not measured
·	NorfolkWebsite blocks automated access	Foster East	Not measured	Not measured
·	North Lincolnshire CouncilWebsite blocks automated access		Not measured	Not measured
·	South TynesideWebsite blocks automated access	Foster with North East	Not measured	Not measured
·	Stockton-on-TeesWebsite blocks automated access	Foster with North East	Not measured	Not measured
·	SunderlandWebsite blocks automated access	Foster with North East	Not measured	Not measured
·	TorbayOur check timed out	Fostering South West	Not measured	Not measured
·	West BerkshireWebsite blocks automated access	Local Authority Fostering South East	Not measured	Not measured
·	WiltshireWebsite blocks automated access	Fostering South West	Not measured	Not measured

Services with the same Findability Score share a rank.

You can download these rankings as a file. For AI assistants says where the files are and what they hold.

Questions about the rankings

Which local authority fostering service in England is easiest to find online?

In the October 2026 rankings from FosterScope, Devon ranks first with a Findability Score of 73.7 out of 100, followed by Salford City Council (72.8) and Buckinghamshire Council (70.2).

Which regional fostering hub is easiest to find online?

In October 2026, Foster4 has the highest score of the 9 regional hubs we scored, at 47 out of 100.

How many local authority fostering services in England have no structured data?

107 of the 136 services scored in October 2026.