RADICAL plans to combine Black Country adoption services to speed up the adoption process and cut the amount of time children are in care are set to go before Dudley Council’s cabinet.

A plan to combine the existing adoption services of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton councils into a new agency ‘Adoption@Heart’ has been drawn up.

The agency is being proposed in response to the government’s national programme, which expects all local authorities to adopt a regional agency by 2020, and would allow the local authorities to work together as one organisation and radically reduce the amount of time it takes for a child and adopters to be matched.

It aims to improve the life chances of neglected children and focus on ways to increase the number of people choosing to adopt - and would also lead to savings for each local authority.

Councillor Anne Millward, Dudley's cabinet member for children’s services, said: “This new approach gives us and our neighbouring authorities the opportunity to fundamentally overhaul the way we deliver adoption services across the Black Country.

“Although the new agency offers a financial saving, it’s not the primary reason driving this project forward. Our top priority is to deliver a first class service, which puts matching adopters and children at the heart of everything we do.

“Adoption isn’t a decision people take lightly, and as authorities we owe it those who choose this path, to support them through the process and match them with a child who they will love and care for as their own.

“For the children it’s about avoiding lengthy spells in care and finding them a long term home, which offers stability, security and a fantastic childhood.”

If approved, the agency would be in place by the summer of next year and existing staff would TUPE across to the new organisation - with all set up costs paid for by the Department for Education.

Cabinet members will be asked to approve the establishment of the agency as a local authority trading company, constituted as a Community Interest Company (CIC) and Company Limited by Shares (CLS), at Wednesday's cabinet meeting at Dudley Council House (July 19).