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5 May 2004 : Column 1563W—continued
Sure Start
Mr. Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mothers in Wigan have taken up the Sure Start maternity grant. [169314]
Mr. Pond:
The available information is in the table.
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| Year | Applications | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 1,205 | 1,055 |
| 2001–02 | 1,369 | 1,209 |
| 2002–03 | 1,785 | 1,405 |
| 2003–04 | 2,055 | 1,385 |
Notes:
1. Data are not available by Parliamentary Constituency. Wigan Parliamentary Constituency is part of Wigan Jobcentre Plus District, which was previously called Wigan and Leigh Social Fund District.
2. Data are given for all applications and awards, irrespective of whether the application was made by the mother or her partner.
Source:
DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System
Mr. Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mothers in Preston have taken up the Sure Start maternity grant. [169725]
Mr. Pond: The information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the tables.
| Applications | Awards | |
|---|---|---|
| Preston social fund district | ||
| 2000–01 | 1,276 | 1,106 |
| 2001–02 | 1,536 | 1,305 |
| 2002–03 | 1,836 | 1,531 |
| 2003 April | 152 | 95 |
| Lancashire West Jobcentre Plus district | ||
| 2003 May to March | 4,866 | 3,710 |
Notes:
1. In May 2003, Preston social fund district was combined with Blackpool social fund district and parts of South West Lancashire and, Lancaster and South Cumbria social fund districts to form Lancashire West Jobcentre Plus district. The data for the two different areas are not comparable.
2. SSMGs were introduced on 27 March 2000. The very small number of cases for 1999–2000 have been excluded for data protection reasons.
3. Data are given for all applications and awards, irrespective of whether the application was made by the mother or her partner.
Source:
DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System
Mr. Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mothers in Manchester, Gorton have made use of the Sure Start maternity grant. [167350]
Mr. Pond: The information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the tables.
| Applications | Awards | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 1,102 | 986 |
| 2001–02 | 1,200 | 1,065 |
| 2002 to December | 984 | 858 |
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| Applications | Awards | |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 January to March | 1,039 | 889 |
| 2003–04 | 4,708 | 3,635 |
| Applications | Awards | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 8,548 | 7,076 |
| 2001–02 | 10,197 | 8,036 |
| 2002–03 | 12,138 | 9,274 |
| 2003–04 | 12,715 | 9,411 |
Notes:
1. Data are not available by parliamentary constituency.
2. Manchester Gorton parliamentary constituency used to be part of Manchester Central Social Fund district and is now part of Manchester Jobcentre Plus district. The latter was formed in January 2003 from Manchester Central, Manchester South and Manchester Trinity Social Fund districts, together with part of Oldham Social Fund district. The data for the Social Fund district are not directly comparable with that for the Jobcentre Plus District.
3. In a set of interlocking boundary changes which took place in January 2003, six Social Fund districts were reorganised into the three Jobcentre Plus districts of Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale, and Bolton and Bury. For comparison purposes, data is given for the area covered by these three Jobcentre Plus districts. These data are shown for comparative purposes.
4. Sure Start maternity grants were introduced on 27 March 2000. The very small numbers of cases for 1999–2000 have been excluded for data protection reasons.
5. Data are given for all applications and awards, irrespective of whether the application was made by the mother or her partner.
Source:
DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Adoption
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made on improving the (a) efficiency, (b) speed and (c) effectiveness of the Child Adoption Service; and if he will make a statement. [167203]
Margaret Hodge: In February 2000 the Prime Minister announced a review of adoption by the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU). The PIU identified key problems and made recommendations in its report, published in July 2000.
Following this review the Government implemented a raft of measures to help improve the adoption service. The Government have:
set an adoption target for the year ending March 2005 for an increase of 40 per cent. in the number of adoptions of looked after children. The baseline for this target is the 2,700 adoptions arranged during the year ending March 2000. Up to the year ending March 2003 there had been an increase of nearly 30 per cent., with 3,500 children being adopted from care;
published statutory National Adoption Standards setting out clear timescales for adoption agencies to make decisions about children and prospective adopters;
set up an Adoption and Permanence Task Force to identify problems in service delivery and to strengthen and promote best practice. The task force has worked with many local authorities to develop and improve their adoption services;
developed an Adopter Recruitment Toolkit and a video for adoption agencies to support their local recruitment of prospective adopters;
established an Adoption Register for England and Wales to help identify potential links between children needing families and those waiting to adopt, and so widen the pool of potential adopters for children;
introduced the Adoption and Children Act 2002, which received Royal Assent on 7 November 2002. The Act overhauls the outdated 1976 Adoption Act and modernises the whole existing legal framework for domestic and inter-country adoption.
The Government have already implemented the following key provisions of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (the Act):
1 June 2003: restrictions on adoptions from overseas;
31 October 2003: adoption support for adoptive families;
1 December 2003: parental responsibility for unmarried fathers who jointly register the birth of their child with the mother;
1 April 2004: advocacy services for children and young people.
The first phase of the independent review mechanism, which will cover prospective adopters whose adoption agency is minded not to approve them, became operational on 30 April 2004. We expect the provisions on Independent Reviewing Officers to come into force in September 2004.
A series of consultation documents are being published this year on other provisions in the Act. Copies will be available in the Library.
The regulations, court rules and guidance required to implement the core of the Act should be in place by the end of 2004. After a period for preparation and training, we expect the legislation to come into force in September 2005.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of birth parents who wish to establish contact with children given up for adoption; and how he proposes to help them. [169043]
Margaret Hodge: The Adoption and Children Act 2002 (the Act) provides for two new access to information frameworks, which could facilitate contact between an adopted adult and his birth relatives. The Government are now consulting on the draft regulations and guidance to implement the provisions in the Act, and a copy of the consultation document is in the Library. Section 98 of the Act provides for access to information in relation to adoptions made before the commencement of the Act and sections 56 to 65 of the Act provide the framework for access to information in relation to post-commencement adoptions.
According to statistics from the Registrar General's Office, approximately 875,000 people have been adopted since the commencement of the Adoption Act 1926. It is only possible to speculate how many people may choose to exercise their right to apply for information under section 98 of the Act. When the numbers of birth parents and other relatives are
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considered, there could be over two million people who might have an interest in applying or who may be the subject of an application.
The Government anticipate that there will be an initial surge of applications from those who have been waiting for section 98 of the Act to be implemented. Some adoption stakeholders have suggested that this could amount to around 20,000 to 30,000 initial applications. The Government intend the framework for section 98 to be implemented in two stages to help registered adoption support agencies, adoption agencies, the Registrar General and the courts manage the initial demand for services. We are consulting on this specific point as part of the overall consultation for the regulations and guidance on access to information and we will carefully consider the responses.
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