Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2018 to Question 130543, by what method his Department assesses the cost-effectiveness of funding given to adopters under the Adoption Support Fund in the absence of information on adoption breakdown.

All applications for funding from the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) by local authorities and regional adoption agencies are based on an up to date assessment of the support needs of the adoptive family.

The fund requires local authorities to meet it terms and conditions for funding, which include requirements that the procurement of funded services follow the relevant European, national and local rules and processes to secure best value for money. These terms and conditions can be found at: http://www.adoptionsupportfund.co.uk/Portals/0/Adoption%20Support%20Fund%20Terms%20and%20Conditions%20of%20Funding.pdf?ver=2017-03-08-154522-847.

Last August, we published an independent evaluation of the ASF. The results showed high levels of satisfaction amongst parents: 84% thought that the fund had helped their child and improvements in behaviour and mental health were also referenced.