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Adoption

Volume 457: debated on Monday 5 March 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on funding for local authorities for adoption support, with particular reference to the training and recruitment of specialist staff. (124100)

The provision of adoption support is one of the key elements of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The Act placed new duties on local authorities to make available in their area a range of adoption support services to meet the needs of people affected by adoption, including training for adoptive parents, and to appoint an Adoption Support Services Adviser. These duties have been underpinned by a ring-fenced grant to local authorities, of almost £70 million between 2003-04 and 2005-06, which from 2006-07 has been mainstreamed in the local authority Children's Services Grant. The Adoption and Special Guardianship element of this grant, in 2006-07, is £32 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research he (a) has commissioned and (b) plans to commission on the long-term effects of open contact arrangements for adopted children. (124101)

The Department has commissioned, as part of its Adoption Research Initiative, a study of the management and support of contact arrangements, following placements for adoption, with a particular focus on more complex situations, such as where there are concerns about child protection, domestic violence or a breakdown in the relationship between a child's birth and adoptive families.

This study is being conducted in two phases. The first phase will map the services supporting birth relatives and services supporting contact provided by local authorities, including those provided in conjunction with voluntary adoption agencies and adoption support agencies. An executive summary is due to be published on the research section of the Department's website at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/ on 29 March 2007, and we will ensure that hard copies are placed in the House Library. The second phase, which will evaluate the impact and outcomes of these support services, and examine their costs, is due to be completed in June 2008.