The following are the
figures from FoI requests at Hammersmith and Fulham. They demonstrate that following agreeing the
target to increase the number of adoptions (and get £500,000) the number of
babies taken into care went up by about 10 a year and following that period it
dropped first by about 10 from over 20 to 10 then to 2 in 4 ½ months. And it also demonstrates that the number of
adoptions from care of toddlers jumped by about 10 following the babies being
taken into care.
In essence it argues that
perhaps 10-20 babies were taken into care to be adopted as part of obtaining
the reward of £500,000 for an increase in permanence.
The
following figures are on a calendar year basis.
Children Entering Care since 01/01/2000
|
Year Bands |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
|
0-1 |
10 |
7 |
18 |
18 |
10 |
21 |
23 |
10 |
2 |
|
1-5 |
26 |
17 |
19 |
25 |
21 |
6 |
16 |
17 |
5 |
|
5-10 |
20 |
26 |
27 |
19 |
23 |
15 |
18 |
27 |
2 |
|
10+ |
92 |
93 |
79 |
75 |
133 |
67 |
57 |
53 |
8 |
|
|
148 |
143 |
143 |
137 |
187 |
109 |
114 |
107 |
17 |
The
following figures are on a calendar year basis.
Adoptions since
|
Year Bands |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
|
0-1 |
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
1-5 |
5 |
8 |
14 |
8 |
10 |
4 |
10 |
13 |
6 |
|
5-10 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
|
10+ |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
6 |
14 |
17 |
21 |
17 |
10 |
12 |
19 |
9 |
The
following figures are on a financial year basis.
Please note that the
majority of these orders are made to a parent or relative(s) of the child.
Those that aren’t are made to long standing Foster
Carers.
In some instances the
children are not looked after by H&F before the Residence or Special
Guardianship order is made, but there will often be possible care proceedings
because of concerns for the children.
Residence Orders and Special Guardianship Orders since
01/01/2000
|
Year Bands |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
|
0-1 |
|
1 |
|
|
|
3 |
2 |
|
|
|
1-5 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
5-10 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
9 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
|
10+ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
5 |
10 |
7 |
0 |
|
|
2 |
13 |
1 |
13 |
10 |
21 |
17 |
12 |
2 |
In
response to the question as to why the figures supplied in the tables below do
not reconcile with the article:
The
101 figure in the article is not just adoptions.
This
number is made up of adoptions, special guardianships and residence orders.
|
|
2005/2006 |
2006/2007 |
2007/2008 |
TOTAL |
|
Adoption |
12 |
16 |
20 |
48 |
|
Residence Order |
4 |
7 |
1 |
12 |
|
Special Guardianship |
5 |
11 |
25 |
41 |
|
TOTAL |
21 |
34 |
46 |
101 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Please
note as the numbers above are based on financial calendar years and the
original data (below) was for calendar years. Thus the 48 adoptions above will
be drawn from 50 adoptions in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 in the table above.
by Hammersmith
and Fulham Press Office
10/03/2008
101 children adopted in the last three
years
More than 100 children have been adopted in the borough
during the last three years, after the Council met a target from central
Government target that many experts thought would be unachievable.
The Government target, known as a Local Public Service
Agreement (LPSA), challenged the Council to successfully achieve 101 adoptions
or secure placements during the last three year period in return for £500,000
of funding.
At the time, the Council felt that the bar was set too
high, as in the previous three year period only 71 children had been adopted -
a figure that was then considered to be very high.
However, H&F’s adoption team swung into action and
pulled out all of the stops in order to meet the target. In part, this was made
possible by the adoption team linking up with the Council’s legal department
and cutting down on the amount of bureaucracy that prospective adopters had to
deal with. All of the 101 children in question were already in care and may
have remained so had it not been for the Council’s adoption team.
Cllr Antony Lillis, Cabinet Member for Community and
Children’s Services, said: "It really is fantastic that we have been able
to secure permanent placements for so many children, greatly increasing the
chance that they will form secure attachments, and thereby go
on to achieve economic well being, and enjoy a happy and fulfilling life.
"The Council's objective is to make H&F a
borough of opportunity for all. This excellent news means that we have created
opportunities for 101 children whose start in life was the least
promising."
For details about adoption in Hammersmith & Fulham,
call 0800 169 3497.