Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will takes steps to help ensure local authority accountability in cases where full mental health information is not disclosed to adoptive parents prior to adoption.

Adoption regulations, supported by statutory guidance, provide for a full range of information to be gathered about a child where adoption is considered to be the most appropriate permanence option. The child’s permanence report, which is shared with prospective adopters, must include a summary of the child’s current physical and mental health written by the relevant medical adviser. It is in the best interests of children that all accurate information, where known, is shared with adoptive families.

Where an adopter believes that this has not happened, they can make a complaint under the local authority published complaints procedure. If someone is dissatisfied with the response they get from their local authority they can refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman.

As part of the implementation of the government’s adoption strategy, achieving excellence everywhere, the department will work with regional adoption agencies to ensure all adopters are given all the health information about the child they will be adopting.