Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to make the adoption process simpler and more straightforward.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The adopter approvals process was reformed in 2013 to ensure that prospective adopters could be assessed and approved more quickly. Most approvals should now take place within six months. The new assessment process is just as rigorous as its predecessor but is structured to ensure swift and appropriate progress.
The Department for Education has ensured that there has been continued improvement in opportunities to support matching children to adopters. This includes the work of the National Adoption Register service, and the provision of exchange days and adoption activity days. These services ensure that children who are not able to be placed locally are given the opportunity to be placed with unmatched adopters across the country. We have also been working to support and challenge social workers to help them accelerate the matching process by avoiding unnecessary delays.
Since 2010, a number of adoption support reforms have been introduced so that families can be confident that support will be provided if needed. These include: placing responsibility on local authorities to inform prospective adopters and adopters of their rights to assessments of need and entitlements to other adoption support services; improving access to specialist therapeutic services through the Adoption Support Fund; extending entitlements on priority school admissions, access to pupil premium and reforming adoption pay and leave.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she intends to take to raise awareness of the possibility of adoption for (a) people who may be eligible to become adoptive parents and (b) women in unplanned pregnancy who do not wish to raise a child themselves.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department for Education funds the First4Adoption service which is the national information service for adoption in England. The department has also provided £17 million in additional funding over 2013-16 to help voluntary adoption agencies recruit and approve more adopters, including those who can meet the needs of children who are harder to place, and address sector-wide issues with regard to the recruitment of adopters. The department has provided local authorities with £200 million over 2014-16 to support adoption reform on the ground and improve the recruitment of adopters. Last year the department and First4Adoption worked closely together in developing promotional resources in order to reach out to anyone interested in adoption. These resources are available, free of charge, to be used by all local agencies and regional consortia in their work to promote adoption. The department also works with the British Association for Adoption and Fostering on National Adoption Week, taking place 19-26 October 2015.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2015 to Question 215, whether her Department has made an assessment of the current level of unmet demand for adoption of children under the age of one in England and Wales; whether her Department plans such an assessment; and if the Minister will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department for Education has no plans to assess the current level of unmet demand for adoption of children under the age of one in England and Wales. However, the First4Adoption website does include ‘adoption maps’ which help to identify where there is unmet demand. First4Adoption reports the numbers of children waiting to be placed across the country and breaks this down to a local authority level: http://www.first4adoption.org.uk/adoption-maps/
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2015 to Question 214, whether collaboration between her Department and the Department of Health has given rise to any measure intended to ensure that adoption is presented as an option to women with unwanted pregnancies; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department for Education and the Department of Health are not taking forward any work to present adoption as an option to women with unwanted pregnancies. However, the NHS website offers advice for women on unwanted pregnancies, including reference to the option of considering adoption for the baby. More information can be found online at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Abortion/Pages/When-should-it-be-done.aspx
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the current level of unmet demand for adoption of children under the age of one in England and Wales.
Answered by Edward Timpson
This information is not collated centrally.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will assess the scope for closer co-operation between her Department and the Department of Health on raising awareness of adoption as an option for women with unwanted pregnancies; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department for Education and the Department of Health co-operate on a wide range of issues including children’s services.
Asked by: Fiona Bruce (Conservative - Congleton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Written Statement of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 1417WS, on qualifications reform, and the Answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 42W, on in vitro fertilisation, whether the study of the human genome as part of the revised content for GCSEs in science will involve pupils learning that genomic DNA is only found in the cell nucleus and that mitochondrial DNA is not part of the genome.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The requirement that students study the genome and gene expression in the revised GCSE combined science and GCSE biology criteria covers all organisms, and is not specific to the human genome. It is therefore given at a level of generality that applies to all living things. The only specific reference in this section of the criteria to the human genome is in the context of the statement that requires students to be able to discuss the potential importance for medicine of our increasing understanding of the human genome.
In developing their specifications which meet these criteria, Awarding Organisations may choose to include microorganisms, humans or any other organism when they cover the genome and gene expression.