Making adoption easier in Blackpool

From April 1, Blackpool Council has joined forced with Lancashire County Council (LCC) to form a regional adoption agency.

It is hoped the measures will simplify the adoption process and increase the number of people coming forward to adopt children, as well as improve the way youngsters are matched with their potential new families and provide support.

The county council is hosting the scheme with Blackpool Council transferring just under £1m from its adoption services into a pooled budget to run the new service.

Blackpool has the highest number of children in care in the country in relation to its population, with figures from last October showing there were 590 children being looked after by the local authority.

In a report to councillors, head of children's services Diane Booth says the reforms are designed "to improve sufficiency of adopters across local authorities thus improving adoption outcomes for children."

She added this includes "developing a system where children are matched with the most suitable adopters as quickly as possible."

The two council have been working together since 2018 to set up the new agency after the government announced changes in 2015, meaning all adoption services nationally needed to be delivered on a regional basis by 2020.

County Coun Phillippa Williamson, cabinet member for children, young people and schools for LCC, said: "We've been working together for a while now to develop this new partnership.

"We hope that by working together we will be able to speed up the matching process for children who are ready to be adopted, while also reducing the time that children spend waiting for adopters to come forward.

"It should also make it quicker and easier for potential adopters to be assessed and approved."