Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2015 to Question 1001, if her Department will provide extra funds to support those local authorities that have a higher number of children on their adoption list.

The Department for Education has asked local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies to set out the support they need to facilitate the move to regional adoption agencies. The department has invited expressions of interest to be submitted by 7 September. This will inform how the £4.5 million funding available for 2015-16 is used.

The government has also announced an additional £30 million of funding starting from July 2015, to cover the fees that local authorities have to pay when families are found from other areas. This investment is targeted specifically at finding homes for almost 3,000 children who are still waiting for adoption, despite there being sufficient numbers of adopters available nationally. Local authorities with higher numbers of children waiting stand to benefit most from this measure.