Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has tabled a Parliamentary motion urging the Government to further review changes to the Adoption Support and Special Guardianship Fund (ASGSF), warning that current funding levels risk undermining efforts to prevent adoption breakdown.
The move builds on Mr Gordon’s ongoing campaign to improve post-adoption support and follows the Parliamentary debate he secured earlier in this Parliament on adoption breakdown, where he highlighted the urgent need for better data, earlier intervention, and properly funded therapeutic support for families.
While welcoming the decision to extend the ASGSF until March 2028, providing longer-term certainty for adoptive and kinship families, Tom has raised serious concerns that the annual “fair access limit” remains at £3,000 per child, reduced from £5,000 in 2024–25.
This represents a significant real-terms cut that risks restricting access to specialist, trauma-informed therapy for children who have experienced abuse, neglect, and instability before adoption.
Tom said:
Securing longer-term funding certainty is positive. But certainty without sufficient funding won’t prevent adoption breakdown.
Earlier in this Parliament, I brought forward a debate on adoption breakdown because too many families feel they are left to cope alone when challenges arise. Cutting the effective level of support risks taking us backwards.
Under the current system, where a child’s assessed therapeutic needs exceed £3,000, local authorities must meet the additional costs, placing further strain on already stretched children’s services budgets.
Alongside his Early Day Motion, he has submitted written Parliamentary Questions asking the Government:
- What steps it has taken to collect annual data on adoption breakdowns in England;
- What impact assessment has been undertaken on both the late confirmation of 2025–26 ASGSF funding and the reduction in the fair access limit;
- What estimate has been made of the additional financial burden on local authorities required to cover support above the £3,000 threshold.
Tom has repeatedly raised concerns that national data on adoption breakdown remains incomplete, making it harder to design effective policy.
Tom said:
If we are serious about tackling adoption breakdown, we must measure it properly. Without clear national data, we are operating in the dark. Prevention is always better, and more cost-effective, than crisis intervention.
Adoption is not a one-off event, it is a lifelong commitment. Families stepping forward to adopt children who have experienced trauma deserve more than warm words. They deserve practical, reliable, properly funded support.
