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Decline in adoptions continues

1 min read Social Care Fostering and adoption
The number of children being adopted is continuing to fall, latest official figures show.

Statistics released by the Adoption Leadership Board show that in the first three months of 2016/17 (April to June) a total of 1,060 children were adopted.

This compares with 1,210 children being adopted in the same period of 2015/16, a year-on-year drop of 12.4 per cent.

The total number of adoptions in 2015/16 of 4,690 itself represented a fall of 12 per cent on the 5,360 recorded in 2014/15.

The trend is a consequence of a significant fall in the number of adoption placement orders being made, which itself is widely accepted to stem from a ruling made in September 2013 by Sir James Munby in the case Re B-S, in which he said that local authorities must provide evidence that all alternatives to adoption had been considered before bringing a case to court.

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