Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2025 to Question 42565 on Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of the time taken to confirm funding for the 2025-26 financial year on the number of applications to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund that were not carried forward by adoption agencies.

The number of applications returned for re-work after the announcement was 727. This allowed changes to be made to align with the grant criteria where necessary and also allowed confirmation that the local authority or regional adoption agency still wished to submit the application.

Applications are now being assessed and approved within the usual timeframes.