To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14765 by Jack McConnell on 4 April 2001, what change has taken place since April 2001 in the proportion of looked-after children who secure a permanent home.
We do not hold information centrally on the proportion of looked after children who secure a permanent home.
The courts in Scotland are required to notify the General Register Office for Scotland when they grant an adoption order. As indicated in the Statistics supplied in the answer to question S3W-27200 on 22 September 2009, there were 418 adoption orders granted in 2008, 67% of those adoptions were by non-relatives. A small number of the non-relative adoptions may have been granted with respect to a child who was looked after outwith Scotland but who was being adopted by adopters resident in Scotland. However, the majority of the non-relative adoptions are likely to involve children who were looked after by a Scottish local authority.
Adoption is not the only form of permanent option available for children who are looked after by a local authority, and may not be the best option for some of these children. Other options for providing a permanent home to a child who is being looked after by a local authority can include the child returning to their natural parents with support from the local authority or permanent fostering. The Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009, which will come into force on 28 September 2009, will provide for a robust process for planning for a looked-after child, not only in the short-term, but also the medium and long-term, taking account of all the permanent options available for that child.
Also, the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, which will also come into force on 28 September 2009, introduces a new, flexible court order, the Permanence Order, which is designed to meet the individual needs of a child and to supply them with a permanent home when they cannot return to their natural parents. This order will allow a greater degree of autonomy from the local authority while retaining the safeguard of being a looked-after child.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.