Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care, published in May 2022, whether she plans to take steps to reform adoption processes.

The National Adoption Strategy, published in July 2021, sets out the department’s long-term ambitions and a clear programme of reform to deliver excellence in adoption services across England. As set out in our Adoption Strategy, we remain committed to improving adoption processes, including modernising contact arrangements between birth parents, adopted children and adoptive parents, a key recommendation from the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. This strategy can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-strategy-achieving-excellence-everywhere.