To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was the average time spent in fostered care/social service care prior to adoption by children adopted in each of the last 15 years;(2) what was the average time spent in foster care/social service care prior to adoption in each of the last 15 years for children adopted at the age of less than one year, one to four, five to nine, 10 to 14 and 15 to 17 years.
Information held centrally relates to the length of time a child was in care under the last legal status before leaving care. This will often be less than the total time he or she was in care. Averages for children leaving care on adoption or being freed for adoption for the year ending 31 March 1991 are shown in the table; figures for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The number of children leaving care in six duration bands are published in "Children in Care of Local Authorities, England", of which copies are available in the Library. Statistics on the total time looked after are being collected from 14 October 1991, but processing for the period ended 31 March 1992 is not yet complete.
| Number of children leaving care on adoption or on being freed for adoption in the year ending 31 March 1991; England | ||
| Age on leaving care | Number of children leaving care | Average duration of last legal status on leaving care (years) |
| All ages | 2,439 | 3·4 |
| Under 1 | 469 | 0·5 |
| 1 and under 5 | 899 | 2·1 |
| 5 and under 10 | 701 | 4·1 |
| 10 and under 15 | 275 | 7·4 |
| 16 and over | 98 | 11·5 |