Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consultation her Department carried out with (a) sector representatives and (b) people with lived experience in making its decision to cut the amount of therapy available per application via the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund in the financial year 2025 – 2026.

The department was not able to consult organisations before the recent announcement, due to the need to open the fund for applications as soon as possible, for the benefit of the children involved. I meet regularly with adoption stakeholders, including recently with the charity Adoption UK and separately the department’s Adopter Reference Group, where we discussed the adoption and special guardianship support fund.