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Breaking news.... 2003 

To view the news during 2008, click here.  

August 2003

NATIONAL ADOPTION WEEK 2003

This year National Adoption Week runs from 3-9 November. Its theme this year is Wishing for a family.

May 2003

For full details, click here

March 2003

MINISTERIAL COMMENT ON ADOPTION STATISTICS

Further work will be carried out to modernise and streamline the adoption and fostering system, Education and Young People Minister Cathy Jamieson pledged today (18/3/03) as newly published statistics showed a further drop in adoption applications.

The Minister said:

"Adoption can provide stability which is essential for the well-being of all children and particularly for children who have experienced disruption in their lives.

It has the advantage of providing a permanent new family for the child - but it is not always the right option. Other possibilities - such as long-term fostering - may be better for some children. 

"Phase two of the Adoption Review will begin shortly and will consider what changes need to be made to the law and legal practice. We want to streamline the process while ensuring that effective safeguards for children are in place. 

"The phase one report, published in June 2002, made 33 recommendations and the Executive is currently examining how to take these forward in partnership with local authorities and adoption agencies. 

"Today's statistics show there has been a further drop in the number of successful adoption applications and that it is taking longer to process some applications. This can be a frustrating experience for prospective adoptive parents and any delay in giving a child a stable home must be avoided. We must find ways to modernise and speed up the process so that children get the best possible service." 

Ministers launched an Adoption Policy Review to examine how the system of offering stable family placements to children who might benefit from them could be improved. 

Phase two of the review aims to develop options for permanence appropriate to the needs of vulnerable children, their birth families and carers. 

The review was planned in two phases to allow the phase one findings to be taken forward, while more detailed legal work is examined in phase two. 

Phase one of the Adoption Review focused on adoption practice. It was launched in April 2001 and completed in December 2001. The review group published its report in June 2002 and at the same time the Executive published its response. Consultation on a number of issues raised ended on September 30, 2002. 

The first phase of the review looked at: 

• the place of adoption services within the spectrum of services considered for children and young people

• the quality of recruitment, selection and assessment procedures for prospective adopters

• the extent and quality of post-adoption support

• the case for Scotland joining the proposed UK National Adoption Register.

National Care Standards for adoption agencies were published in March 2002 and are planned to come into force later this year to ensure high quality adoption and fostering services. It covers the standards that children, adoptive parents and birth parents can expect from adoption agencies, including timescales for assessment, consultation with these stakeholders and post-adoption services.

In January 2002 the Scottish Parliament agreed measures to enable Scotland to join the National Adoption Register.

Sheriff Principal Graham Cox, chaired phase one and will chair phase two which will comprise of three smaller groups to enable a more focused approach to the complex legal issues. Mr Cox will chair two subcommittees on the legal framework and legal processes and Penny Simpson will chair the subcommittee on children's hearings. Other members will be announced at a later date.

Adoption APPLICATIONS IN SCOTLAND - 2002

Statistics on the number of adoption and freeing order applications in Scotland for the year 2002 have been published today (18/3/03) by the Scottish Executive.

The main points are as follows:

There were 360 adoption applications for which an outcome was reached in 2002. This was 14 per cent lower than in 2001 when there were 418 applications. Of these, 228 were adoptions by a person who was no relation to the child in 2002, compared to 241 in 2001 (a fall of 5 per cent). This decline in the number of adoption applications is part of a longer-term trend — the number has fallen steadily from 1,081 in 1983 to 360 in 2002.

The number of adoptions from overseas accounted for under 2 per cent of all adoptions in 2002, which was broadly similar to previous years.

Between 1983 and 2002, the percentage of adoption applications which were for children under the age of one fell from 26 per cent to 7 per cent. The percentage that were for children aged 1-4 rose from 20 per cent to 36 per cent over the same period. The percentage of adoption applications in 2002 for children aged 5-11 and 12-17 was similar to the 1983 figures, at 39 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. The average age of children at the time of application was just over six and a half years in 2002, similar to the last three years.

44 per cent of the applications in 2002 were made through Local Authority adoption agencies, which is the same as in 2001. Applications made without an agency (normally by step parents) fell from 46 per cent in 2001 to 43 per cent in 2002 while applications made via a voluntary agency increased from 9 per cent to 13 per cent.

In 2002, 98 per cent of applications were granted. This follows the pattern of recent years when at least 95 per cent of adoption applications have been granted.

In 63 per cent of cases, both adopters were unrelated to the child, while most of the remainder involved the natural mother and step-father.

In 2002, 67 per cent of adoption applications reached an outcome in under 120 days, compared to 70 per cent in 2001. The proportion of cases reaching an outcome in under 60 days fell from 30 per cent in 2001 to 25 per cent in 2002, while the proportion taking between 120 and 180 days rose from 17 per cent to 20 per cent and the proportion taking over 180 days remained the same at 13 per cent.

The number of applications for the making of freeing orders had fallen by 14 per cent from 111 in 2001 to 96 in 2002. The percentage of freeing orders granted had also fallen from 91 per cent in 2001 to 75 per cent in 2002, mainly due to an increase in the number of applications being withdrawn.

January 2003

Adoption policy in Scotland, is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive.

For full details, click here