With the suspension of the Adoption Register for England planned from 29 March, the Department for Education is reviewing the needs of the wider adoption and fostering sector, and considering what, if anything, should take its place.
For an unspecified period, there will be no statutory entitlement for children to be registered nationally. Until the suspension, there was a legal requirement for local authorities to "provide the information about the child to the Secretary of State for entry in the register", within 90 days of a decision being made to place for adoption.
Serious problems with compliance, however, have led to the register's matching work often starting later: councils only met the three-month timeframe for 39 per cent of children they referred.
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