§ Keith VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current backlog is of cases of inter-country adoptions being dealt with by his Department. [85528]
§ Jacqui SmithThe Department of Health is currently taking approximately five months to process inter-country adoption applications received from local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies. This involves comprehensive checking of all the papers received to ensure that they are in the format required by the country of origin and that the various legalisation and authentication procedures have been correctly carried out. The Department process every case as quickly and efficiently as they are able so that all children can have a safe and smooth transition to their new life in the United Kingdom. This processing time670W has increased following a significant increase in the complexity of cases and UK adopters applying to new countries.
In addition to processing applications, the Department also has responsibility for:
providing information and assistance to prospective adopters and professionals in the social care field;
on inter-country adoption procedures and how the relevant pieces of UK legislation on adoption should be applied in practice;
the production of fact sheets giving information on how to adopt from overseas countries, which prove to be an in valuable tool for both adoptive parents themselves and also the social workers carrying out home study assessment;
handling a continuous stream of telephone inquiries and letters from adopters wanting to inquire about how their adoption application is progressing;
general inquiries about both domestic and inter-country adoption; and
providing urgent advice to entry clearance officers overseas and the Home Office about whether all the required documents are in place to be able to issue entry clearance to the UK, and on whether a court in the UK would be likely to make an adoption order after the family have returned.
A number of initiatives are being put in place to improve processing times including: Saturday working to target outstanding cases; the recent recruitment of an additional caseworker; and a change in processing for Northern Ireland cases allowing them to be managed direct by the Department of Health and Social Services Public Safety, therefore cutting their overall processing time.