Issue details

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