Narey quits as head of Adoption Leadership Board

In a statement released on social networking site Twitter, Narey said he had agreed with ministers to step down as chair in March 2016, two years after he was appointed to the post.

“After five years I have decided to step back a little, and I have agreed with ministers that I will step down from my chairmanship of the Adoption Leadership Board in March.

“I shall continue to be available to them for ad-hoc advice, but I intend to do much less on the adoption front.”

He said the Department for Education will make an announcement on the arrangements for appointing a successor "in due course".

The board was created in early 2014 with the aim of improving data on adoption, heading up a marketing campaign to boost the number of adopters, and monitor how money for post-adoption support was spent.

Narey’s announcement comes at a difficult time for the adoption sector with numbers of children being adopted, and approved for adoption, both in decline.

Figures published by the Adoption Leadership Board earlier this month show that 1,140 children were adopted between April and June this year, compared with 1,330 between October and December 2014, a fall of 14.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, the number of children being approved for adoption by the courts this year has also fallen, with 750 placement orders made between April and June, compared with 950 between January and March.

The drop in placement orders and adoptions are widely accepted to stem from a legal ruling made in September 2013 by Sir James Munby in the case Re B-S.

Despite the declines, Narey, who was appointed chair of the Adoption Leadership Board in April last year, stressed the positive achievements on adoption in recent years. He said he is proud that many thousands of children have found permanence through adoption, that "radically improved" adopter support has been intorduced, and progress has been made with supporting adopted children at school.

"Most of all I'm so pleased that the number of children waiting for adoption has fallen so substantially," he added.

Narey's resignation comes soon after his appointment to two high-profile positions in recent months. In August he was appointed as an adviser at the Ministry of Justice.

And earlier this month Prime Minister David Cameron announced that Narey will head a review into children's residential care.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, said: “Sir Martin has worked tirelessly for vulnerable children as chair of the Adoption Leadership Board, providing invaluable insight and increasing confidence in the system.

"We remain indebted to him for his work, which will continue through his review of residential care due to report in the new year.

“The government remains absolutely committed to ensuring all children for whom adoption is in their best interest are placed with their new family without delay.”