Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she had made of the potential barriers to opportunity for adopted (a) children and (b) young people; and what steps her Department has taken to help tackle these in the last year.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department recognises that many adopted children have experienced trauma and neglect. As part of the government’s Plan for Change, we are working to remove barriers to opportunity for all children, including those who are adopted.
To support adopted children in school, we are prioritising their access to school admissions, providing Pupil Premium Plus funding, and ensuring support from designated teachers and virtual school heads.
This year, we have allocated £50 million to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund to provide essential therapeutic services for eligible children. Additionally, we have invested £8.8 million in Adoption England to improve adoption practices. This includes expanding multi-disciplinary teams to offer specialist support, introducing a new early support framework called ‘Becoming a family’ for the first 12 to 18 months of placement, and implementing an Adoption Support Plan to assess and guide families’ support needs.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has considered updating the Statutory Guidance on Adoption, published on 18 July 2013.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department keeps all statutory guidance under regular review, including that relating to adoption, and considers updates where required.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of prospective adopters; and what steps her Department is taking to increase this.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government inherited a situation marked by a growing disparity between the number of children awaiting adoptive families and the number of approved adopters. In 2024/25, Adoption England launched a national recruitment campaign funded by the government, which led to a modest increase in approved adopters to 2,230, which is a rise of 0.5% from the previous year. We acknowledge that further efforts are needed to close the adopter sufficiency gap. That is why, this year, we have doubled the funding allocated to Adoption England for adopter recruitment, increasing it to £1 million.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the Coram quarterly data reports on adoption and special guardianship, published in March 2025.
Answered by Janet Daby
Coram’s quarterly statistics on adoption and special guardianship orders provide a critical insight into how well local services are performing. The department regularly takes stock of where improvements are needed and works closely with Adoption England and kinship organisations such as Family Rights Group and Kinship to review policy priorities.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of adoption disruptions in the last year; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce these.
Answered by Janet Daby
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for York Central to the answer of 28 March 2025 to Question 37457.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an Adoptee Reference Group to provide guidance to the Department on adoption policy.
Answered by Janet Daby
I regularly meet with representatives from the adoption sector including Adoption England, Adoption UK and Coram amongst others to discuss a range of issues. I hosted an adoption roundtable sector meeting on 21 May with a number of key representatives to discuss some of the challenges within adoption and I am committed to hosting similar meetings in the future.
The department already has a well-established Adopter Reference Group which meets regularly and acts as an important sounding board on adoption policy. I was pleased to meet with them on 6 May this year.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she will place in the Library a copy of the Equalities Impact Assessment.
Answered by Janet Daby
The equalities impact assessment for the adoption and special guardianship support fund will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses shortly.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing an Adoption Advisory Board of sector experts to advise the Minister for Children and Families on adoption policy.
Answered by Janet Daby
I regularly meet with representatives from the adoption sector including Adoption England, Adoption UK and Coram amongst others to discuss a range of issues. I hosted an adoption roundtable sector meeting on 21 May with a number of key representatives to discuss some of the challenges within adoption and I am committed to hosting similar meetings in the future.
The department already has a well-established Adopter Reference Group which meets regularly and acts as an important sounding board on adoption policy. I was pleased to meet with them on 6 May this year.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making care experience a protected characteristic.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department is committed to tackling stigma and discrimination faced by care-experienced children and young people. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will introduce corporate parenting responsibilities for government departments and other relevant public bodies. This will ensure corporate parents are aware of issues that could negatively impact on children in care and care leavers.
The leaving care grant for care leavers was increased from £2,000 to £3,000 from April 2023.
To support them to engage in education, employment, and training, care leavers are entitled to a £3,000 bursary for apprenticeships and a £2,000 bursary for university. They are also prioritised for the 16-19 bursary in further education.
Over 600 businesses, including John Lewis, Sky, and Amazon, have signed the department’s care leaver covenant, offering employment and training opportunities. The government's civil service care leaver internship scheme has provided over 1,000 paid jobs across government. Care leavers who access Staying Close will receive support to engage in education, employment and training.
The government currently has no plans to extend support to care leavers to age 30.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure that young people with care experience have support available from local authorities until the age of 30.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department is committed to tackling stigma and discrimination faced by care-experienced children and young people. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will introduce corporate parenting responsibilities for government departments and other relevant public bodies. This will ensure corporate parents are aware of issues that could negatively impact on children in care and care leavers.
The leaving care grant for care leavers was increased from £2,000 to £3,000 from April 2023.
To support them to engage in education, employment, and training, care leavers are entitled to a £3,000 bursary for apprenticeships and a £2,000 bursary for university. They are also prioritised for the 16-19 bursary in further education.
Over 600 businesses, including John Lewis, Sky, and Amazon, have signed the department’s care leaver covenant, offering employment and training opportunities. The government's civil service care leaver internship scheme has provided over 1,000 paid jobs across government. Care leavers who access Staying Close will receive support to engage in education, employment and training.
The government currently has no plans to extend support to care leavers to age 30.