Long wait for children in care

Children in Rochdale wait an average 733 days from entering care to moving in with adoptive parents.

National guidance says the process should take 14 months or 426 days — but only four councils in the country meet the target.

The Government set an interim target of 21 months (639 days) to bring councils up to scratch, but Rochdale even fails that test.

The council will have to make significant improvements quickly: the Government is reducing the guidance to a 14-month maximum over the next four years.

The “adoption scorecards” from the Department for Education is the first time such data has been produced and is based on figures from 2009 to 2011, and show there are widespread delays throughout the adoption process. Rochdale is one of 34 local authorities which averaged more than 700 days.