ADCS Conference: Narey urges action to halt fall in adoptions

Although a record 5,000 children were adopted in 2014, Sir Martin Narey, who heads the Adoption Leadership Board, said that unless the fall in the number of adoption placement orders being sought by social workers is addressed there will be a dramatic reduction on that figure for the current year.

Addressing delegates at the Association of Directors of Children’s Services annual conference, Narey called on senior leaders to encourage children’s social workers in their authorities to seek adoption placement orders when appropriate.

“I would urge you to ensure your social workers have not lost their nerve,” he said. “If the current [placement order] figures don’t recover, the fall in adoption numbers will be very substantial indeed.

“Those numbers are going to drop alarmingly unless procedure changes.”

The drop in placement orders granted by family courts have been blamed on a ruling made in September 2013 by Sir James Munby in the case Re B-S, in which he criticised “sloppy practice” of social workers and said that local authorities must provide evidence that all alternatives to adoption had been considered before bringing a case to court.

In November 2014, the Adoption Leadership Board issued “myth-buster” guidance in an attempt to clarify the situation, but official figures show the desired increase is yet to materialise.

Figures published last month show that 740 placement orders were granted between October and December 2014, compared with 780 in the previous three months (July to September 2014).

Numbers had more than halved since the three months prior to Munby’s ruling (July to September 2013) when 1,550 orders were made.