Issue - meetings

Background:

The Adoption Partnership South East is a Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) providing adoption services for Medway, Kent, and the London Borough of Bexley. This was the fifth RAA Annual Report, which provided information and an overview of adoption service activity and practice development for the period April 2025 – March 2026.

The report highlighted continued recruitment of adopters, the expansion of adoption support through therapeutic services, peer support and the Adoption Support Pilot, and a strong commitment to involving adopters, adopted people and birth families in shaping services. The report also recognised the successful matching and placement of Medway children with approved adopters and the strength of partnership working across Medway, Kent and Bexley.

The Statutory Regulations required that elected Members be informed of the Adoption Agency’s activity on a regular basis. The annual report provided information that would assist Members in respect of their responsibilities as Corporate Parents for Looked After Children.

The report had previously been considered by the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 12 August 2026, and the Cabinet thanked the Committee for its comments which were set out in an addendum report within Supplementary Agenda No.1.

Reasons:

Statutory guidance requires adoption agencies to report on adoption agency activity in the previous year.