Adoption service praised as one of best in entire country

In its latest report, Ofsted graded North Yorkshire’s adoption service as outstanding in all areas, the only authority in the country to receive such an accolade under a new and tougher set of standards criteria.

In the report, inspectors praised the county council for retaining permanent staff, rather than other local authorities who rely heavily on temporary agency workers, and says the quality of adopting families chosen is very high.

It also praised clear leadership from the local authority, which earlier this year was highlighted by the Education Secretary Michael Gove. Problems elsewhere in Britain have left thousands of children languishing on adoption waiting lists.

Over the past three years, only six other authorities have been judged outstanding across the board for adoption services; none of these was in Yorkshire.

Coun Carl Les, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for children’s social care, said: “We are delighted with the inspectors’ findings and feel this accolade is richly deserved.

“Our dedicated and experienced staff provide the strong leadership necessary to ensure that children who are placed for adoption, as well as adoptive families, are supported through every step of this complex and challenging process.

“We are very proud that children placed for adoption in North Yorkshire thrive and are given the best chance to achieve their potential in life- which is the right of every child.”

Mr Gove announced new guidelines earlier this year to break down the barriers faced by children and potential parents.

He said some of the limitations put on adopters in the past – based on ethnicity, sexual orientation and faith – was “social engineering of the worst kind”.

The Government said progress in adoption had stalled in recent years, with the number of children placed for adoption falling by 15 per cent between March 2009 and 2010, and more children were waiting longer to be adopted.

Black children took over 50 per cent longer on average to be placed for adoption than children from other ethnic groups.