New reforms announced yesterday by UK
Education Secretary, Michael Gove may mean that more children will be put up
for adoption instead of being left in council care.

Under new guidlines, older children, those
from ethnic minorities and groups of siblings are all to be considered for
adoption by suitable families of any background, regardless of race or social
status.

And the guidelines tell social workers they
must allow white couples to adopt black and ethnic minority children, and that
they should not turn willing adults away on the grounds that they are too old.

Too many children in care are denied a loving
home because councils are too slow to place them with suitable families, Mr
Gove believes.

The minister, who was himself adopted, is considering
tougher regulation to ensure that councils act more quickly.

According to figures, adoption rates in the
UK are at their lowest level for 11 years and an estimated 4,000 children
across Britain are on waiting lists for adoption.

Some have brothers and sisters who need to be
adopted together while others have suffered abuse or are disabled.

It typically takes 50 per cent longer for a
black child to be placed for adoption than for a child from another ethnic
group, while children over the age of five are four times less likely to be
adopted those who are younger.

The new guidelines will be sent to all
councils in England with the aim of speeding up the process so that more
vulnerable children are given good permanent homes.

The children’s minister, Tim Loughton called
the fact that some councils only placed only two per cent of the children in
their care for adoption “disappointing”, while in other areas the rate was
eight times higher.

“It’s unacceptable for vulnerable children to
be denied the chance of a loving, permanent home when there are suitable
parents available to adopt children,” he said.

“I want to see more children placed for
adoption, where this is in their best interests, particularly those who may
have been overlooked, like older children, children from black and minority
ethnic backgrounds and those with disabilities.”

Councils and voluntary adoption agencies
should welcome people who come forward to adopt and “in no circumstances turn
them away because of their race, age or social background,” Mr Loughton said.

Ministers will consider giving Ofsted, which
inspects adoption agencies, a new remit to help speed up the process of placing
children with parents.

Currently, the inspectorate rates
three-quarters of all local authority adoption agencies as “good” or
“outstanding” but the government is concerned that this positive picture fails
to take account of slow placement rates.

Some councils are said to be unwilling to pay
voluntary adoption agencies to match children to prospective parents because
they think the cost is too high.

However, the government believes councils can
save hundreds of thousands of pounds which would otherwise be spent on
fostering arrangements or care homes by placing more children permanently with
suitable families.

A partnership between the children’s charity,
Coram, and the north-west London borough of Harrow, saw every child in need of
adoption in  the area placed within six months and saved
the council £440,000.