Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken to process applications for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support fund in the 2025-26 financial year.

The changes made to the adoption and special guardianship support fund will enable the funding to be accessed by the maximum number of children and families. This level of funding will still allow eligible adoptive and kinship children to access a significant package of therapeutic support to help prevent placement breakdowns. The department always considers the impact of decisions on vulnerable children.

We have been working closely with our delivery partners to implement operational changes which will make it easier for local authorities and regional adoption agencies to submit applications, and we will continue to review what further steps we can take. The department’s delivery partners are working as quickly as possible to review and approve applications so that children and families can access therapy without delay.