Press Release: Legal Challenge Issued Over Government Adoption Support Consultation

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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2 June 2026

Legal Challenge Issued Over Government Adoption Support Consultation

Editor Briefing: Legal Challenge Over Adoption Support Consultation

The atSTAKE campaign group (formerly Action Against ASGSF Changes) is supporting an individual in a judicial review claim that has been issued challenging the Department for Education’s consultation on the future of support for adopted children and children in kinship care.

The claim concerns the consultation Adoption Support That Works For All, which asked families, professionals, children and young people for views on proposed reforms to adoption and eligible kinship support.

The claimant argues that the consultation was irrational and procedurally unfair. In particular, the claim argues that it encouraged agreement with broad, positive-sounding proposals, rather than enabling informed responses about what the reforms could mean in practice.

Campaign group atSTAKE believes that the consultation design excluded the children and families most affected by the reforms. Many adopted and kinship children live with early trauma, loss, neurodevelopmental difference, mental health need and repeated barriers to support. Families in the most severe circumstances will struggle to contribute, especially where confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.

Following pre-action correspondence sent before the claim was filed, and in a partial response to the claim, the Department for Education has agreed to carry out a further round of consultation with children and young people, focusing on those with high needs.

atSTAKE says this further work must be independent, ethically robust, trauma-informed and methodologically sound. It must be capable of hearing from children, young people and families with high levels of need, including those in crisis, whose experiences are least likely to be captured through standard consultation methods. The claimant is represented by Public Law Project and Emily Wilsdon of 39 Essex Chambers. The claimant is not being named because the case involves sensitive family circumstances and children.

Full Press Release: Legal Challenge Issued Over Government Adoption Support Consultation

Parent-led campaign says the consultation failed to give adopted and kinship children and families a fair chance to respond to reforms that could reshape access to specialist therapeutic support

A judicial review claim has been issued challenging the Government’s consultation on the future of support for adopted children and children in kinship care.

The claim challenges the Department for Education’s consultation, Adoption Support That Works For All: Reimagining Adoption And Kinship Support, Making It Fit For The Future, which asked families, professionals, children and young people for views on proposed reforms to adoption and eligible kinship support.

The claimant argues that the design of the consultation was irrational and procedurally unfair. Among other things, the claim argues that the consultation was framed to encourage or elicit agreement with broad proposals, rather than enabling informed responses and proper consideration of what the reforms could mean in practice.

The claim also argues that the part of the consultation aimed at children and young people was inaccessible, particularly for those with high needs.

These are matters now before the court.

The claimant is represented by Public Law Project and Emily Wilsdon of 39 Essex Chambers. The claimant is not being named because the case involves sensitive family circumstances and children. 

atSTAKE, the parent-led campaign formerly known as Action Against ASGSF Changes, has raised concerns throughout the consultation about its accessibility, framing and ability to capture the experiences of adopted and kinship children and families with the highest levels of need.

An atSTAKE spokesperson said:

“This challenge goes to the heart of how Government listens to children and families whose lives will be directly affected by these reforms.

“The Department’s own commissioned research has already gone some way to documenting significant levels of need within adoptive and kinship families. Many children and young people live with the lifelong impact of early trauma, loss, neurodevelopmental difference, mental health need and repeated barriers to support.

“The children and young people most affected by changes to adoption and kinship support are often those least able to take part in this kind of consultation process because of its design. Some are in crisis. Some struggle with trust, attention, emotional regulation, abstract questions, written surveys, or simple agree/disagree responses to complex policy proposals.

“That matters because excluding or under-representing children and families with the highest levels of need means excluding the very people these reforms are most likely to affect.”

The Department for Education consultation asked respondents about proposals including earlier support, peer support, support at key life stages, standardised assessments, evidence standards, local control of funding and improving value for money.

Campaigners say those proposals were presented in broad, positive terms that most families would naturally want to support: earlier help, fairer support, better use of money, stronger local decision-making and clearer assessment.

Their concern is that agreement with those principles could be treated as support for reforms whose practical consequences were not clearly set out. Those consequences include whether a national route to specialist therapeutic support will remain protected, whether support will become more dependent on where a child lives, whether families will retain access to specialist independent providers, and what protections will exist beyond 2028.

An atSTAKE spokesperson said:

“Families were asked to respond to ideas that sound positive in the abstract. Earlier help, fairer support, money being used wisely, local teams having more control: parents and children are always going to want those things.

“The real questions are much more concrete. Who will decide what support a child receives? What happens if help is refused? Will families be able to access specialist therapeutic providers? Will funding remain protected? How will a postcode lottery be prevented? What appeal route will families have when a decision is wrong?

“These questions are central to whether any future system will meet children’s needs.”

Campaigners also say the consultation risked under-representing the children and families whose experiences should be central to future policy. Families seeking adoption support may be living with self-harm, suicidal ideation, school breakdown, child to parent harm, harmful sexualised behaviour, criminal exploitation, substance use, mental health crisis, statutory involvement, parenting at a distance, or serious conflict with services.

They say a consultation that relies heavily on online surveys, agreement scales and open text boxes will struggle to capture the depth of those experiences, particularly where the consultation warns that confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. The Department must not mistake limited disclosure for limited need.

The Department’s proposals appear to indicate the end of The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund after 2028. The Fund has provided a national route to therapeutic and specialist support for many adoptive and eligible kinship families. Campaigners say while the Fund has had flaws, for many families, it has been the best route to specialist support unavailable through mainstream services. Families say the Fund has helped them stay together.

atSTAKE says any future system must protect access to specialist assessment and therapeutic support. It must be clear about eligibility, funding, provider choice, accountability and routes of challenge. Families need more than reassurance that money will be used wisely. They need to know that children with complex needs will be able to get the right help at the right time.

Following pre-action correspondence sent before the claim was filed, and in a partial response to the claim, the Department for Education has agreed to carry out a further round of consultation with children and young people, focusing on those with high needs.

atSTAKE says this further work must be independent, ethically robust, trauma-informed and methodologically sound. It must be capable of hearing from children, young people and families with high levels of need, including those in crisis, whose experiences are least likely to be captured through standard consultation methods. 

“No final decisions should be made about the future of adoption and kinship support until Government has properly understood the needs of the children and families most affected.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The Department for Education consultation, Adoption Support That Works For All: Reimagining Adoption And Kinship Support, Making It Fit For The Future, ran from 10 February to 5 May 2026.

The consultation sought views on reforming adoption and eligible kinship support, including the future operation of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.

The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund provides funding for therapeutic and other support for eligible adoptive and special guardianship families.

The judicial review claim argues that the consultation was irrational and procedurally unfair. These matters have not yet been determined by the court.

Following pre-action correspondence sent before the claim was filed, and in a partial response to the claim, the Department for Education has agreed to carry out a further round of consultation with children and young people, focusing on those with high needs.

Public Law Project is a national legal charity working to improve access to justice, uphold the rule of law and improve public decision-making.

atSTAKE is the new name for the campaign formerly known as Action Against ASGSF Changes. It is a parent-led, independent campaign working to protect and expand access to specialist therapeutic support for adopted and kinship children, young people and adults affected by early-life trauma, loss and neurodevelopmental difference.

Website: www.atstake.org.ukMedia contact: contact@atstake.org.ukLegal contact: Public Law Project, s.wixley@publiclawproject.org.uk