The government is facing a backlash for “slipping out” cuts to the amount that families can access for adopted children to have therapy.
The Fair Access Limit (FAL) will be reduced from £5,000 to £3,000 as part of a package of changes to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Fund (ASGF), which helped nearly 20,000 children last year.
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The cuts were confirmed in an email to the sector over parliament’s Easter recess rather than through a formal announcement.
The email, seen by Sky News, says the ASGF will continue from April 2025 with a budget of £50m, the same as last year, but there will be changes to how it is allocated.
This includes cutting the limit of grants for therapy by 40% and scrapping a separate allowance of £2,500 for specialist assessments.
Specialist assessments up to the level of £2,500 will be considered for funding, but only within the overall limit of £3,000.
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In addition, the government will no longer match fund more expensive therapy above the limits.
The letter said: “We recognise that this is a significant change, but it is being made to ensure that the funding can continue to support as many families as possible.
“The Adoption and Special Guardianship Fund will still enable those eligible to access a significant package of therapeutic support, tailored to meet their individual needs.”
The ASGF helped 16,333 children in the year 2023/24, up from 14,862 the previous financial year.
‘Deep concerns’
Liberal Democrat MP Munira Wilson criticised the government for “slipping out” the changes during recess, despite her raising an urgent question in the Commons on 1 April over whether the funding would continue.
At the time, children and families minister Janet Daby responded to confirm £50m had been allocated overall and apologised for the delay in saying so, but didn’t mention the cuts.
The future of the ASGF had been in doubt up until then, as it was due to run out in March 2025.
In a letter to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, Ms Wilson said it is “unacceptable the government took so long to confirm the fund and even more unacceptable that MPs were provided with incomplete information”.
She called on ministers to reverse the “deeply concerning” cuts, saying she and her parliamentary colleagues have been contacted by constituents “sharing the deeply traumatic stories children in their care have experienced”.
She said the changes will have a “huge impact on the quality of life” for vulnerable children and even in light of the fiscal challenges “cannot be justified”.
‘Most adopted children have suffered abuse or neglect’
Charities have also hit out at the government with Adoption UK saying the decision is a consequence of “belt tightening across government”.
The organisation says around 3,000 children in England are placed in adoptive families each year, and most have suffered abuse, neglect, or violence and spend an average of 15 months in care before adoption – so need therapy for most of their life.
CEO Emily Frith said: “These decisions will have a direct impact on children and young people who have had a very tough start in life and deserve the same chance to thrive as everyone else.
“It’s very short-sighted at a time when there are more adoptive families in crisis than ever before, and distressing news for everyone who has already faced an agonising wait to find out whether the fund will continue to exist at all.”
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Kinship, which supports people who step in to raise a friend or family member’s child, warned 13% of carers are concerned about their ability to carry on because of behavioural difficulties stemming from trauma and loss, so the cuts risk family breakdowns and “children entering an already overstretched care system”.
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Both charities called on the government to rethink the changes at the June Spending Review, when Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out her plans for spending and key public sector reforms for future years.
Ms Reeves is under pressure after announcing a raft of cuts in her spring statement, after poor economic growth and global instability wiped out her fiscal headroom.
The chancellor is determined to keep the headroom as part of her self-imposed fiscal rules, which require day-to-day spending to be met through tax receipts rather than borrowing.
But there is concern the headroom is even more fragile amid Donald Trump’s global trade tariffs, meaning further cuts or tax rises could be on the cards.
The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.
