Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the level of the Adoption Support and Special Guardianship Support Fund on the amount of therapy available for adopted children.

The revised criteria for the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) were introduced in April 2025 and were designed to ensure support for all those applying for ASGSF funding. An Equalities Impact Assessment was published in July 2025. More details on this assessment are available at: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2287315/files.

Analysis shows that, in 2024/25, users of the fund had an average spend of £3,170. In 2025/26, the average spend was reduced slightly to £2,537, well within the Fair Access Limit of £3,000. Local authorities and regional adoption agencies may supplement funding where additional support is assessed to be required. There were 22,166 recipients of funding in 2025/26, including nearly 1,800 specialist assessments, demonstrating continued access to support.

The department announced in February the continuation of the ASGSF to 2028, the end of the Spending Review period. A consultation on the longer-term future of adoption support, including a call for evidence, recently concluded, and the department is continuing to assess input and findings.