Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to announce the allocation of the Adoption Support Fund for March 2022 onwards.

Adoption is a priority for this government. The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) plays a vital part in our approach to enabling and stabilising adoptions. Now that the Spending Review has concluded, the department is undertaking the business planning process to finalise the allocation of the departmental budget. The department will announce the conclusion of this planning and what this means for the ASF as soon as possible. As the department has done in previous years, we have committed some funding for the 2022-23 financial year in advance of business planning finalisation. In cases where therapy packages have been agreed and started in the 2021-22 financial year, families will be able to access support beyond March 2022.

The department is aware that the ASF has a significant and positive impact on the families that can access the important support it funds. It is important to get this right for these families and so the department is carefully considering Adoption UK’s Adoption Barometer report recommendations. The department is also considering other evidence on the ASF gathered from interested organisations, as we carry the business planning process to finalise the allocation of the departmental budget.