Sharp fall in number of adoptions
Neil Puffett
Thursday, September 29, 2016
The number of children being adopted has fallen for the first time in more than four years, government figures show.
Statistics published by the Department for Education show that a total of 4,690 looked-after children were adopted in 2016, compared with 5,360 in 2015, a fall of 12 per cent.
It is the first annual fall in numbers of adoptions since before 2012, but was largely expected due to a significant drop in the number of children being placed for adoption in recent years.
The fall in adoption placements 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 criticised the "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.
Hugh Thornbery, chief executive of Adoption UK, said: "I've feared for some time that there would be a dramatic fall in adoptions this year so the drop comes as no surprise. We expect to see a further fall in the current year.
"Adoption can offer the best chance to permanently break a cycle of neglect and abuse and give a child a second chance at fulfilling their potential with the support of a loving family - so we cannot stress enough the importance of clearing up any confusion over the 2013 rulings which has undoubtedly had a negative impact upon adoption decisions and placement orders in recent years."
The statistics also show that the number of looked-after children is continuing to rise, having increased steadily over the last eight years.
There were 70,440 looked-after children as of 31 March 2016, an increase of 1 per cent compared with 31 March 2015 when there were 69,480.