Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance she has provided to (a) local authorities and (b) families on the special assessments section of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.

Detailed guidance has been provided to local authorities and regional adoption agencies about the recent changes to the adoption and special guardianship support fund, including regarding specialist assessments. Similar information has been shared with stakeholder organisations representing families. The GOV.UK website has also been updated with information to explain the recent changes. This information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adoption-support-fund-asf#funding-eligibility.