Telford & Wrekin Council praised for its timely adoption system
A council was praised by a government children's minister for its timeliness in arranging new homes for adoptive children.
Nadhim Zahawi MP said he was "delighted" with Telford & Wrekin Council's adoption framework, which he said had improved the outcomes for children in the region.
The MP for Stratford-on-Avon wrote to the council to say that newly published adoption scorecards for the period between 2015 and 2018 show Telford and Wrekin has met the government’s threshold for the time taken to place children with their adoptive families:
He went on to say: “I am delighted with the work Telford & Wrekin has done to ensure that children are found a permanent home without delay and I hope you can continue to perform strongly in this area.
“Although the national average is steadily improving, there is still more that can be done and I hope that through your work with North Midlands Regional Adoption Agency, you are able to have an impact on other local authorities by sharing best practice and driving improvement throughout adoption.”
The North Midlands Regional Adoption Partnership is made up of Telford & Wrekin Council, Shropshire Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council.
The letter also recognised that the council’s director of children’s services, Clive Jones, has been working with the West Midlands Regional Improvement and Support Lead in areas of children’s social care, and also plays an active role in the Regional Improvement Alliance.
Mr Jones said: “We welcome recognition of our performance, achieved in partnership with Shropshire Council, which hosts our joint adoption service.
“We look forward to working with the North Midlands Regional Adoption Partnership (made up of l and ourselves) to make further improvement to practice in this area.”
Mr Zahawi is the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families.
