Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to increase the number of adoption registered therapists providing counselling to adults who were adopted as children.

The department recognises the importance of the availability of counselling and therapeutic support to adults who were adopted as children. We agree that adult adoptees should be able to access the support that they need, particularly around their mental health needs.

The department has recently consulted on amendments to regulations to simplify arrangements for providers who provide support to adopted adults. One of the proposed changes in the consultation is to remove the requirement that therapists be registered with Ofsted when providing counselling services to adopted adults. One of the aims of this is to increase the availability of counselling for adult adoptees. We are currently analysing the responses.

The government is also improving NHS mental support availability. The NHS Long Term Plan and mental health expansion plans will increase funding for mental health services.