Issue - meetings

Report by Corporate Director Terence Herbert.

Cllr Laura Mayes presented a report which provided an interim six-month report about the performance of the Adoption Service of Wiltshire Council.

Cllr Mayes explained that it was a statutory requirement that the Adoption Service provided regular assurance reports to the Council. This is achieved through annual year-end report, supported by a brief six-month update relating to quarters 1 and 2. The report detailed the following two main areas of focus, as there was a need for continual improvement regarding the Adoption Service:

·       The need for timeliness of the assessment of adopters and their match with a child to be adopted; and

·       The need for timeliness of the adoption of children with complex needs.

The report recognised the Government’s commitment to improving adoption services in terms of numbers of children being adopted and the timeliness of matches for children requiring adoptive placements, the development of the Adoption Service, within the broader context of the development and implementation of Adoption West. 

Cllr Mayes spoke about the measurement of comparative performance using the Adoption Scorecard, which for Wiltshire Council shows overall continued improvement. In particular, Cllr Mayes referred to (i) improvements in the average time between a child entering care and moving in with its adoptive family, for children who have been adopted; and (ii) the reduction in enquiries to become an adopter and the applications received to be an adopter, which appeared to be a national trend. The cabinet noted that the number of adopters required by the Council was a balancing act which fluctuated from year to year.

In response to a question from Cllr Mathew about the morale of potential adopted parents, whilst waiting for an adoptive child, the Corporate Director for Children and Education reported that the recruitment process was explicit in explaining the timescales involved in adopting a child and regular communication between adopters and officers within the process was key.

Resolved:    That the Adoption Service 2018 Q1-2 6 month report be noted.

Reason for Decision:

Wiltshire Council is an Adoption Agency registered with Ofsted. The 2014 Adoption Minimum Standards (25.6) and 2013 Statutory Guidance (3.93 and 5.39) describe the information that is required to be regularly reported to the executive side of the local authority to provide assurance that the adoption agency is complying with the conditions of registration whilst being effective and achieving good outcomes for children and service users.

Adoption West will be required, as a registered Adoption Agency, to provide regular reports to the Local Authorities within the partnership.