Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of restoring the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund in the forthcoming spending review.

The government is investing an extra £680 million for mental health services, recruiting 8,500 extra mental health workers. Through our Plan for Change, we will tackle the mental health crisis and give every child a healthy start to life.

The adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) will continue to complement other important services, including the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service and our expanded access to mental health support teams in schools.

This year we will be funding Adoption England to develop multi-disciplinary teams in more Regional Adoption Agencies, jointly with health and education partners, so adoptive families can get holistic joined up support.

All funding after March 2026 is subject to decisions in the next spending review. However, we recognise and value the positive impact of the ASGSF in supporting adoptive and kinship families and its importance to many.

The department was not able to consult organisations before the recent announcement, due to the need to open the fund for applications as soon as possible for the benefit for children. I regularly meet with adoption stakeholders, including recently meeting with the charity Adoption UK and, separately, with the department’s Adopter Reference Group, where we discussed the ASGSF.