Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the consultation on the renewal of Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021, how many responses supported the extension.

The public consultation to seek views on extending and amending the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 received 212 responses.

Analysis showed that the majority of respondents agreed with the proposals to extend existing flexibilities in relation to virtual visits, medical reports (for fostering and adoption) and the minimum frequency of Ofsted inspections.

The table below sets out the number of respondents on each flexibility:

The government’s response to the consultation has been published and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-the-adoption-and-children-coronavirus-amendment-no-2-regulations-2020.