Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care introduced the Adoption Agency Annual Report for 2013/14 which summarised the work of the service during the year and the priorities aimed at improving the service, a number of which had stemmed from an external adoption challenge by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering.

The Cabinet Member advised on the high threshold for placing children for adoption and the difficulties faced in attracting prospective adopters from across all spectrums of the community, including individuals as well as couples.  The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health referred to the lengthy process that prospective adopters had to go through to be selected and suggested that it would be a helpful to use the experiences of those who had gone through the process in the recruitment material.

In response to a question regarding the potential loss of three posts within the service, the Corporate Director of Children’s Services advised that Adoption Grant funding levels from central Government had already reduced by £600,000 in the current year and further cuts were likely.  The Chief Executive explained that it was almost inevitable that cuts would have to be made to grant funded services when that funding was reduced or ceased, due to the existing pressures on Council funding.

Cabinet resolved to note the Adoption Agency Annual Report 2013/14 at Appendix 1 to the report and the 2014/5 priorities of “Improve permanency planning for children”, “Recruit more potential adoptive parents” and “Increase membership of the Adoption Panel”.