Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many claims to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund were rejected as a result of the total fund limit being reached in 2024-2025; and how many claims made in 2024-25 exceeded the new limits for individual claims in 2025-26.

No claims to the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) were rejected as a result of the total fund limit being reached in 2024/25.

Applications exceeding £3,000 were made for 4,832 children in 2024/25. This figure may include some double counting, if more than one application exceeding £3,000 was made for the same child, as could be the case if an application for match-funding was being made.

However, the department’s systems do not enable it to make an accurate calculation of the number of children for whom two or more separate applications under £3,000 were made, but which together totalled more than £3,000. This could, as a result, lead to some under-counting of children in this category.