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Adoption

Asked by Dr Al PinkertonLiberal DemocratDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 6 January 2026UIN 99937

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the statutory framework governing post adoption support to help prevent avoidable family breakdowns.

Answered by Josh MacAlister

The department is not currently planning to review the statutory framework for post adoption support.

We are funding Adoption England £8.8 million this year to develop consistent and high quality adoption support provision across the country. This includes implementing a new framework for an early support core offer for the first 12 to 18 months after placement, rolling out a new Adoption Support Plan book for all new adoptive families, and developing a national protocol to be used for all adoption support service teams and local authority front door safeguarding services to ensure that parents receive support when they need it most and help prevent family breakdown.

The department will set out plans to launch a public engagement process in 2026 to better understand how well the adoption and special guardianship support fund is working, what the evidence tells us and what further evidence is required, and importantly what is working well for families and why.

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