Councils given £50m to continue adoption reforms
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Local authorities will receive £50m to continue with efforts to recruit more adopters, the government has announced.
The money, which will be available for 2014/15, will come from £150m that has been top-sliced from the now defunct early intervention grant in each of the last two years.
In 2013/14, the entire £150m went towards adoption reform.
Children’s minister Edward Timpson said the money would help council’s “put the building blocks in place” to implement government reforms.
But David Simmonds, chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said that while the announcement was positive, the funding is not “new money”.
“It represents a net reduction in funding for local authorities and could impact on services for vulnerable children,” he said.
“This could include early intervention services which can help councils identify children that could benefit from adoption at an early stage.”
Alongside the £50m funding, the government also announced the creation of a new Adoption Leadership Board, that will support local authorities to drive through reform of the system and help adoption agencies to recruit more adoptive parents.
Andrew Webb, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) said: “The creation of a new sector-owned Adoption Leadership Board in conjunction with £50m of funding to support the further implementation of adoption reforms will help to ensure that every child that needs a new permanent family will be matched with one in a suitable timescale.”
Figures published in September showed a 15 per cent rise in the number of adoptions.
"We’ve seen a rise in adoptions this year, but we still need more adopters to provide loving homes for some of society’s most vulnerable children.
Hugh Thornbery, chief executive of Adoption UK said the Adoption Leadership Board can could help maintain improvements.
“We know that key to attracting more adopters is the assurance of accessible, timely and appropriate support,” he said.
“One of the board's tasks will be to turn the government's aspirations for better adoption support into reality so that adoptive parents and their children receive the support they need to build strong families and bright futures."
Prospective adopters are also now able to access online adoption maps to help them find a child to adopt, and find out about adoption agencies in their area and across the country.
Earlier this month, the government announced the creation of a £70m grant, funded through the defunct early intervention grant top-slice, to help councils implement the SEN reforms.
