Hornchurch & Upminster MP Julia Lopez has welcomed the extension of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) to March 2028, after backlash to government dithering over its future.
The ASGSF, introduced by the Conservative Government in 2015, was designed to help children overcome the effects of early trauma, abuse, and neglect. It provides therapeutic services for families who have adopted children or care for them under special guardianship orders—arrangements where a child is permanently placed with someone other than their birth parents, often a relative or close family friend.
Despite the fund's critical role, Labour Ministers announced significant cuts to the therapy support available while a lengthy backlog of applications accrued due to government dithering over the right approach.
Mrs Lopez had pushed Ministers in the House of Commons last year by raising the cases of affected Havering families. Nonetheless, despite this week’s announcement, Mrs Lopez warned that families will judge the new approach on whether it restores meaningful access to therapeutic support for each child, following concerns that previous 40% reductions to the per child funding available have not been reversed.
The Government has confirmed a 10% increase in the overall budget to £55 million for 2026/27, alongside a 12 week consultation on longer term reforms to adoption and kinship support, including the future of the ASGSF.
Mrs Lopez said:
“Many adopting families across Hornchurch and Upminster have told me how vital this Fund is in helping children who have already experienced significant trauma get the specialist support they need.
“I welcome the Government extending the ASGSF to March 2028 and increasing the overall budget, because families need certainty. Sadly, this was sorely lacking last year with chaos surrounding Fund’s future.
“But families will also want clarity on what support is available for each child in practice. The higher overall budget does not restore what was previously removed from the per child support that families could rely on. Last year’s cut was significant, removing 40% of funding per head.
“I want Ministers to set out clearly how these reforms will improve access, speed and consistency, and ensure families are not left facing a postcode lottery when they need help at the most critical moments.
“I would strongly encourage adoptive parents, special guardians and kinship carers to respond to the Government’s consultation, and to contact my office with their experiences so I can feed local views into the process.”
