Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received on a further review of arrangements around special guardian orders.

The government conducted a review of arrangements around special guardianship and special guardianship orders (SGOs) in 2015 and published its response on 17 December 2015, which can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/special-guardianship-review

Although the review found that there were no fundamental issues with the awarding of SGOs, it did suggest that those seeking to become special guardians may not always be assessed or supported in a way that puts children’s long term welfare first.

As a result, we have strengthened regulations to ensure that special guardian assessments are more robust and based on the principle that the guardian should be capable of caring for the child to the age of 18. Revised regulations came into force on 29 February and updated Statutory Guidance can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/503547/special_guardianship_guidance.pdf

In addition, from 1 April this year, we have extended access to the Adoption Support Fund to special guardians supporting children previously in the care system. This will pay for therapeutic services such as cognitive therapy and intensive family support - helping children recover from their previous experiences and bond with their new families.

We have received no recent representations asking for a further review or arrangements around SGOs since we conducted our review last year.