Decision details

Local Authorities were directed to join a Regional Adoption Agency through the Education and Adoption Act 2016 by 2020.
The key principle behind the regionalisation of adoption services is that, on a national level, children are waiting far too long to be matched and placed with their adoptive families. By pooling resources, adoption agencies are more likely to increase the choice of prospective adopters and therefore identify matches more quickly and thus reduce the time that these children remained looked after in the care of the local authority.

As a result, the driving force for the initiative was very much to improve the outcomes for looked after children with a permanence plan of adoption. It has taken 2 years to reach a position where the four local authorities are supportive of the business case (as approved by the Key Decision Report) and are fully committed to the setup of the SYRAA, satisfied that the specification will meet the following 3 criteria:

- No reduced performance
- No increased costs
- No negative impact on the Terms and Conditions of staff.

The financial implications were covered in depth within the July 2020 Key Decision report and outline that the cost of the SYRAA will be funded by the pooled budgets of the four local authorities, and any underspend or overspend allocated equally.

The impact on staff will be minimal as none of the adoption teams will move from their current location and they will remain employees of each of the local authorities.

Formal governance of the SYRAA will be provided through the South Yorkshire Regional Adoption Agency Governance Board that will be responsible for providing oversight and challenge to the regional arrangements.

It is understood that Cabinet approvals from all Local Authorities are in place.

to approve the completion of the South Yorkshire Regional Adoption Agency (“SYRAA”) Agreement enabling the implementation of a Regional Adoption Service hosted by the Doncaster Children’s Services Trust for Doncaster, Barnsley, Sheffield and Rotherham local authorities. The Service to be known as One Adoption South Yorkshire or “OASY”.
This decision is in accordance with a Key Decision on the 21st July 2020 for the Cabinet Member for Young People, Children and Schools to:
a) Agree that Doncaster adoption services should join the South Yorkshire Regional Adoption Agency (SYRAA) with Barnsley, Sheffield and Rotherham Local Authorities;
b) Agree that Doncaster Children’s Services Trust can act as lead organisation and host of the South Yorkshire Regional Adoption Agency;
c) Mandate to proceed to the detailed implementation phase for the South Yorkshire Regional Adoption Agency over the next 6 months with an anticipated ‘go live’ date of 01/01/2021; and
d) Delegate authority to the Director of Children’s Services and the Director of Social Work (DCST) in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools, to take strategic decisions in relation to the implementation of the SYRAA.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND REJECTED

Options considered:

1. Do nothing – this is not an option since the Council is required to join a Regional Adoption Agency.

2. Fully integrate current adoption teams and TUPE transfer staff over to the Trust or a separate entity hosting the arrangement – This is not an option as the Authorities and Unions felt it was too great a risk to staff retention.

3. Convening of SYRAA with joint management structure and pooled budget – this is the preferred option.