New adoption statistics published by Adoption Leadership Board

21 January 2017

Statistics released by the Adoption Leadership Board show that a total of 1,060 children were adopted  between April and June 2016. The figures also reveal that, between April and June 2016, 890 placement orders were made. This is a slight increase on the 850 made between January and March 2016 but still down on the 1,070 made between October and December 2015.

The total number of adoptions in 2015/16 was 4,690 a fall of 12 per cent on the 5,360 recorded in 2014/15. This the result of a fall in the number of adoption placement orders being made. The trend is widely attributed to a reticence, amongst some social workers to progress adoptions following a 2013 ruling by Sir James Munby in the case Re B-S. The ruling stated that local authorities must provide evidence that all alternatives to adoption had been considered before bringing a case to court.

You can read the ALB Quarterly Data Report (April-June 2016) here 

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