Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures are in place to assess the potential impact of the Families First Partnership programme on adoptive families experiencing difficulties.

Adoptive families are eligible to access support through the Families First Partnership programme’s Family Help offer. The programme guide recognises that some adopted children may experience emotional, social and developmental challenges linked to their early life experiences and that prompt support is important when difficulties risk escalating to family breakdown. Family Help and front door teams are expected to work with adoption teams to help determine the support families need.

The department is monitoring implementation and emerging impact through quarterly programme data collections and structured engagement with local authorities. From April 2026, the department is also measuring safeguarding partners’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of the reforms through a quarterly survey. Ofsted will continue to evaluate children’s experiences and progress through its inspection framework.