Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings included in Adoption UK’s Barometer Report, published in June, which found that 85 per cent of the adopters surveyed said their adoption agency does not regularly review their child’s contact arrangements with birth relatives; and what plans they have to make such reviews mandatory.

Local authorities have a legal duty to provide a comprehensive adoption service. This specifically includes 'Assistance, including mediation services, in relation to arrangements for contact between an adoptive child and a natural parent, natural sibling, former guardian or a related person of the adoptive child', as set out in Adoption Support Services Regulations 2005. It be found at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/691/part/2/made?view=plain. Contact arrangements should be reviewed regularly, and families should be supported with the contact arrangements before, during and after the adoption.

As set out in our 'Adoption Strategy: achieving excellence everywhere', the department is working with Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) to develop and trial what good practice around contact looks like, with a view to setting national standards in this area. This includes investigating what support is needed for children, birth parents, and adoptive parents. RAAs are also currently trialling a new programme called ‘Letterswap', a new digital platform to improve the current ‘Letterbox’ system. The published adoption strategy is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-strategy-achieving-excellence-everywhere.