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Number of children being adopted continues to fall

There has been a further fall in the number of children being adopted and the number of adoption orders being granted by the courts, Department for Education figures show.

Latest Adoption Leadership Board data shows that 1,060 children were adopted in the three-month period between July and September 2016, down from 1,070 in the quarter before and from 1,160 between January and March 2016.

The number of new placement orders has fallen from 1,630 between July and September 2013 to 830 in the same period of 2016. Between April and June 2016 the courts granted 1,020 placement orders.

The falls follow a downward trend for both measures in recent years which has been linked to the impact of the September 2013 Re B-S judgement, which indicated that local authorities need to show the courts that all alternatives to adoption were considered before seeking an adoption order.

A number of attempts to address the situation have been made in recent years.

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