Purpose

That Cabinet agrees to continue with Adoption
West as their preferred option for their Regional Adoption Agency
(RAA), beyond February 2027, with a delegation to the DCS and
Cabinet Member for Children’s Safeguarding and Care to work
with key stakeholders and partners (including adoptive family
representatives) to further develop Adoption West, taking account
of:
- the direction of national policy as it relates to adoption,
adoption support and other forms of permanence, and opportunities
to expand or enhance Adoption West’s remit accordingly.
- the operational experience gained since March 2019.
- a comprehensive review of resourcing, structures and oversight to
ensure Adoption West operates on a sustainable basis, providing
value for money for the participating LAs and good outcomes for
children and adoptive families.
- local government reform proposals; and,
bring a further report to a future Cabinet meeting when this work
is completed setting out revised proposals for Adoption West beyond
February 2027.
2.2 Proposal
Adoption West is a company wholly owned and limited by guarantee of
the six local authorities, established in March 2019 to deliver
specified statutory adoption services on their behalf.
The current arrangements come to an end in February 2027. The
partners recently commissioned an external review of the progress
to date, alongside a consideration of alternative RAA models to
assist in determining the best approach to service provision,
beyond the expiry of the current arrangements. The review concluded
that the further development of Adoption West, consolidating and
building upon the progress to date, represents the best option for
service provision beyond February 2027, providing opportunities to
innovate, as well as addressing the pressures and challenges that
are evident in the adoption system both regionally and
nationally.

Subject to initial agreement by the six local authority partners to
Adoption West’s continuation, work would commence to refine
the operating model, with the intention of bringing back detailed
proposals later in 2026 for final approval. Ensuring a continuity
of service and minimising the impact for children, families and
staff will be integral to the development process. The details of
the contract would be agreed by: Jean Kelly, (DCS) Joanne Parker,
Service Manager, Ian Tomlinson, Commissioning Manager and Cllr
May

Decision

(1) 
To agree, in principle, to continue with Adoption West as the
council’s preferred option for their regional adoption agency
(RAA), beyond February 2027.
 
(2) 
To delegate to the Director of Children’s Services, in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services,
to work with key stakeholders and partners (including adoptive
family representatives) to further develop Adoption West, taking
account of the matters set out in paragraph 11.1 of the report.
 
(3) 
To bring a further report to a future Cabinet meeting once this
work is completed setting out revised proposals for Adoption West
beyond February 2027.

Reasons for the decision

The current arrangements end in February 2027.
The partners recently commissioned an external review of the
progress to date, alongside a consideration of alternative RAA
models to assist in determining the best approach to service
provision, beyond the expiry of the current arrangements. The
review concluded that the further development of Adoption West,
consolidating and building upon the progress to date, represents
the best option for service provision beyond February 2027,
providing opportunities to innovate, as well as addressing the
pressures and challenges that are evident in the adoption system
both regionally and nationally.
 
Adoption West (AW) is currently judged to be
good in all respects by Ofsted having had two regulatory
inspections, in 2022 and 2024, and has contributed positively to
several children’s services inspections involving the
participating local authorities since 2019.
 
AW’s performance compares well with
peers and service user feedback is overwhelmingly positive, with
the most recent Adoption Barometer (2024) and annual service user
survey showing many indicators performing as good if not better
than national averages.
 
Two reviews by Ofsted and the DfE, alongside
published performance data and inspection reports provide an
insight into the extent to which RAAs, in their various forms, have
delivered against the core regionalisation aims – increasing
adopter recruitment, reducing unnecessary delay, enhancing adoption
support, and delivering cost efficiencies. Neither comes to a
definitive view as to which form of RAA and/or organisation of
resources therein has proven most effective. Consequently, the
evidence for changing from AW to a hosted model for example based
on improved outcomes is not compelling. Moreover, the salient
features of an effective RAA highlighted by the studies, including
local partner commitment, a shared vision and values, and effective
governance and oversight, are evident within the AW model.
 
A commissioned or collaborative model, with
services delivered by a Voluntary Adoption Agency (VAA – a
voluntary sector organisation regulated by Ofsted to provide
adoption services) was ruled out by the AW partners in 2016, due to
the incipient nature of the provider market at that time. The
closure and downsizing of several VAA providers over recent years
suggests the market is potentially less stable than was the case
previously. A market test exercise would be needed in coming to a
definitive view however this would be challenging to complete
within the time available while leaving sufficient time to complete
a commissioning exercise.
 
The creation of Adoption West was a
considerable undertaking, supported by central government funding
and external expertise. A decision to move away from the current
model towards some form of hosted model or the commissioning a
third party, would require significant commissioning, legal,
procurement and human resources, alongside social care
leaders/practitioners with permanence and adoption expertise. There
will inevitably be disruption and anxiety associated with such a
substantive transformation process no matter how professionally
managed, impacting on Adoption West staff and service users.
Moreover, the central government funding provided through the
previous regionalisation programme is unlikely to be available to
support this.
 
A change to a hosted arrangement for example
could be considered a retrograde step from an entity that has
forged a distinct identity, which provides for shared ownership and
accountability for the participating local authorities, with a
demonstrable record of effectiveness.

Alternative options considered

The Education and Adoption Act 2016 contains a
reserve power to require local authorities to transfer their
adoption services into a regional arrangement. Moreover, recent
communication with central government sets out an expectation for
pan regional working between RAAs. Consequently, the options for
LAs are limited to what form of RAA they work within rather than a
return to the previous position of delivering adoption services on
a single local authority basis. The options for AW partners are
limited to the continuation and development of AW, a hosted model -
with one or either LA providing a lead, or a
commissioned/collaborative with a VAA. It is important to note that
to date none of the participating local authorities has expressed a
desire to host the service.
 
The challenge of delivering substantial change
within the time available, the absence of external funding in
support of change and the absence of unambiguous evidence that
other forms of RAA would provide for better outcomes, are material
factors when contemplating change for a service with profound
ethical considerations for those involved. In the prevailing
circumstances, building on a model that is succeeding is the only
practicable option.