WIREDGOV

LGA responds to £30 million adoption funding announcement in yesterday’s Budget.

Responding to the Chancellor's announcement of an extra £30 million to reimburse councils for inter-agency fees on adoption, Cllr David Simmonds, Chairman of the Local Government Association's Children and Young People Board, said:

"Councils will always look for the best adoptive family to suit a child's needs and we work closely with other councils who may have approved adopters or children in need of homes that can be matched up.

"The LGA negotiated a level playing field on the fees that allow councils to recover the cost of this work, but it remains a significant burden when resources are tight. With government confirming that this is new money, the opportunity to recover these costs through this new funding arrangement should help our overstretched children's services departments.

"Across the country, the number of children who have found permanent homes continues to increase with councils already joining up regionally and helping to significantly cut delays. However, we must remember that adoption isn't right for every child in the care system with many either fostered, in a special guardianship or living with extended family in the shorter term whilst overcoming a problem that placed them into care in the first place.

"Councils now need government support in ensuring that court proceedings, which are the most time-consuming part of the adoption process, become a thing of the past."