Written Question
Thursday 6th February 2020
Asked by:
Lord Russell of Liverpool (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question
to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend eligibility for the Adoption Support Fund to adopted children who have returned to the care system under a section 20 care order.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Last year we announced that the Adoption Support Fund would continue with increased funding until 2021 pending the outcome of the multi-year Spending Review in 2020. The announcement, attached, can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-funding-to-boost-adoption-support.
We will consider the scope, eligibility and delivery requirements of the Adoption Support Fund as part of our planning for this Spending Review.
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 18 Jun 2019
Children’s Homes etc. Inspection Fees, Childcare Fees, Adoption and Children Act Register (Amendment) Regulations 2019
"That this House regrets that the Children’s Homes etc. Inspection Fees, Childcare Fees, Adoption and Children Act Register (Amendment) Regulations 2019, in revoking the duty on adoption agencies to provide information to the Secretary of State about children approved for adoption and approved prospective adopters who have not been matched, …..."Lord Russell of Liverpool - View Speech
View all Lord Russell of Liverpool (XB - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Children’s Homes etc. Inspection Fees, Childcare Fees, Adoption and Children Act Register (Amendment) Regulations 2019
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 18 Jun 2019
Children’s Homes etc. Inspection Fees, Childcare Fees, Adoption and Children Act Register (Amendment) Regulations 2019
"My Lords, I declare my interest as a governor of Coram, which has been looking after the interests of children since it was established as the Foundling Hospital in 1739. I also place on the record the fact that Coram ran the Adoption Register for England on behalf of the …..."Lord Russell of Liverpool - View Speech
View all Lord Russell of Liverpool (XB - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Children’s Homes etc. Inspection Fees, Childcare Fees, Adoption and Children Act Register (Amendment) Regulations 2019
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 18 Jun 2019
Children’s Homes etc. Inspection Fees, Childcare Fees, Adoption and Children Act Register (Amendment) Regulations 2019
"My Lords, I thank everybody who has taken part in this brief discussion and thank the Minister for his response. I felt on occasions slightly as though I were sitting in an echo chamber and going round and round in circles. I appreciate that the ministerial response is written for …..."Lord Russell of Liverpool - View Speech
View all Lord Russell of Liverpool (XB - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Children’s Homes etc. Inspection Fees, Childcare Fees, Adoption and Children Act Register (Amendment) Regulations 2019
Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 14 May 2019
Schools: Adopted Children
"My Lords, I too thank the noble Lord, Lord Triesman, for initiating this short but timely debate. Yesterday, he and I, along with the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, attended the first day of an inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Adoption and Fostering into the adoption support fund, which …..."Lord Russell of Liverpool - View Speech
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Written Question
Thursday 2nd May 2019
Asked by:
Lord Russell of Liverpool (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question
to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what impact the Adoption Support Fund has had on rates of adoption disruption since its inception in 2015.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The information requested on all adoptions which breakdown after the adoption order is granted is not held centrally. The attached research report, ‘Beyond the adoption order’, was published in 2014 and gave a one-off insight into adoption disruption. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beyond-the-adoption-order-challenges-intervention-disruption.
Some information is collected on children who return to care and who are reported as having previously been adopted. This is published in table C1 (attached) in the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018. These figures were collected for the first time in 2014 and should be treated with caution as the information is based on self-declaration, and for a large number of children the previous permanence arrangement is not known.
The independent, 2-year evaluation of the Adoption Support Fund (ASF), published in August 2017 (attached), found that ‘a large majority of survey respondents believed that the support provided through the ASF had helped them’.
Written Question
Tuesday 30th April 2019
Asked by:
Lord Russell of Liverpool (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question
to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support regional adoption agencies will provide for adoptive families from 2020 onwards.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Over half of all local authorities in England are already delivering adoption services through a regional adoption agency (RAA), and we expect all local authorities to be doing so from 2020. RAAs aim to deliver a regional adoption system where sufficient high-quality adoption services are available nationwide for all adopted children and their families.
Following the launch of a RAA it will be the responsibility of the agency to ensure that high quality adoption support is available within their region. This will be driven by local need and developed through learning from best practice across the regionalised system. All services should be provided to meet the requirements as set out in the Adoption and Children Act (2002).
Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 24 Apr 2019
Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019
"My Lords, I also thank the Minister. This is the second time we have interacted today; he was brave enough to go into the lion’s den of the weekly Cross-Bench meeting earlier this afternoon, and received in general a very positive reaction. It is also a pleasure to listen to …..."Lord Russell of Liverpool - View Speech
View all Lord Russell of Liverpool (XB - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019
Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 13 Dec 2018
Young People
"My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Armstrong, for initiating this debate. I declare my interest as a governor of Coram, the children’s charity. Part of Coram, Coram Voice, delivers on behalf of the Department for Education the national advocacy safety net and advice service for looked-after children …..."Lord Russell of Liverpool - View Speech
View all Lord Russell of Liverpool (XB - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Young People
Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 01 Nov 2018
Children: Welfare, Life Chances and Social Mobility
"My Lords, I too thank the noble Baroness, Lady Massey, whom I think of as my noble friend. We are both members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and I can speak from direct experience of how highly regarded she is there for the wide range of …..."Lord Russell of Liverpool - View Speech
View all Lord Russell of Liverpool (XB - Excepted Hereditary) contributions to the debate on: Children: Welfare, Life Chances and Social Mobility