Adoption

Tim Loughton

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many (a) couples and (b) single people approved to adopt were added to the Adoption Register in each year since its creation; (232635)

(2) how many children were added to the Adoption Register in each year since its creation.

This information can be found in the following table:

*Number of prospective adopters and children referred to the Adoption Register for England and Wales for the year ending December*
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Prospective adopters—couples	2,263	1,678	1,444	1,081	1,252	1,196
Prospective adopters—single	185	129	139	134	182	167
Children	2,645	1,879	2,119	1,657	1,727	1,832
Source: The Adoption Register for England and Wales.

Volume 482: debated on Wednesday 5 November 2008