Adoption 'shame' councils named

Oct 31 2011

Councils that are failing children who are up for adoption or fostering have been named and shamed as part of a Government crackdown on poor performing authorities.

Hackney, in London, came bottom of the table with just 43% of children being placed with adoptive parents within 12 months.

Among the other lowest performers were Brent on 52%, Nottinghamshire on 55%, and Derby and the East Riding of Yorkshire both on 57%.

York came out top, with a 100% record of enabling children to go to new families within one year. It was followed by South Tyneside on 96%, Hartlepool on 95% and Portsmouth and Windsor and Maidenhead on 94%.

The move comes as David Cameron warned that services at poor performing local authorities could be taken over by other councils or have their services contracted out privately. The Prime Minister spoke out as potential adopters and foster parents were urged to come forward.

The Government found huge differences in the rate of children leaving care for adoption, with Croydon recording just 2% while Derby reached 26%. Overall, the average length of time for an adoption to take place is two years and seven months.

Educational success among children in care also varied wildly across the country, according to the records. Barking and Dagenham and West Berkshire came out top for getting youngsters into higher education while 36 local authorities recorded fewer than 10% of looked-after pupils achieving five A* to C at GCSE.

Tower Hamlets, in London, had the lowest number of care leavers classed as not in education, employment or training while Bracknell Forest, Berkshire, had the worst rate at 69%.

Children's Minister Tim Loughton said: "For too long, children in care have been let down by local authorities and the family justice system. These children are getting a raw deal when it comes to delays in adoption, the poor exam results they often get and the many difficulties they may face when the time comes to leave care."

Martin Narey, the Government's adoption adviser, called for abused and neglected children to be identified and removed from their homes more quickly. He is working with local authorities to help them improve their adoption services, including looking at how to overhaul the assessment process.