Further funding to improve quality of adoption services

Five new Regional Adoption Agencies have been granted £3.4 million as part of the government’s ambition to create a world-leading adoption system.

Regional Adoption Agencies were created to replace the previous system of council adoption, to bring together groups of local councils to work together on adoption and help widen the pool of potential adoptive families and help match children awaiting adoption with the most suitable family as quickly as possible. At present, 141 councils have joined a live or developing regional agency.

The funding will go to 17 councils to speed up the matching process between children awaiting adoption and adoptive families, as well as improving adopter recruitment and reducing costs.

The new Regional Adoption Agencies and the local authorities involved are: Kent - made up of Kent, Bexley and Medway; Coast to Coast - Cumbria, Durham and Sunderland; Lancashire - Blackpool and Lancashire; Ambitious for Adoption - Harrow, Bromley, Redbridge, City of London and Slough; and Adoption for South East - Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove.

Children and Families Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “We want every child to be in the loving, stable home that’s right for them, and adoption can transform the lives of these vulnerable children - and their adoptive families - in a remarkable way. By coming together and joining forces through the work of Regional Adoption Agencies, councils can use the network to match children with the right families much more quickly.”