Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, why she has decided to close the Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board.

Since the formation of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board (ASGLB), the adoption and special guardianship landscape has changed significantly. The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care called for a reset of the whole system. As we move into a different phase of reform across the whole of children’s social care, it is the right decision to close the ASGLB, which has fulfilled its remit.

To drive improvements in adoption practice across the country, the department now has 32 Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) working collectively and with the wider sector to deliver on the National Adoption Strategy, supported by £19.5 million in government funding. The department believes this is the right structure to deliver change.

The Care Review also recommends supporting a wider cohort of kinship carers. This recommendation goes beyond the scope and current remit of the ASGLB. The department is working up proposals around kinship care that fit with wider governance arrangements that are being developed to deliver the Care Review recommendations. The government’s implementation plan will be published early in the New Year.