Adoption should be the last port of call – even in the storm of local authority funding

Adoption should be the last port of call – even in the storm of local authority funding

The language judges use is usually considered and restrained, but there are times when they make their displeasure clear. Last year, addressing a mother’s appeal against a court’s refusal to let her oppose the adoption of her children, president of the high court’s family division Sir James Munby stated: “We have real concerns, shared by other judges, about the recurrent inadequacy of the analysis and reasoning put forward in support of the case for adoption, both in the materials put before the court by local authorities and guardians and also in too many judgments. This is nothing new. But it is time to call a halt.”