Department for Education stats show sharp decline year on year in babies adopted, down from 150 in 2007 – and 4,000 in 1976

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

The number of babies adopted in England fell to 60 last year despite a sharp rise in the number of children in care.

The total number of adoptions has continued to drop, falling by 5% to 3,050 in the past year, according to Department for Education statistics.

The number of babies adopted fell more sharply, to 60, compared with 70 in the previous year and 150 in 2007. This compares with about 4,000 in 1976.

The number of children placed for adoption also fell to 2,450, a decline of 10% since 2007.

The decline comes despite the statistics also showing there are 65,520 children in care, the highest number since 1987, with 3,660 of them under a year old.

Children's minister Tim Loughton said: "Today's statistics are a timely reminder that we must redouble our efforts to do better for children in care. It's worrying that the number of adoptions has continued to decline, and it's simply not good enough for vulnerable children to be waiting well over two years to be adopted."

Ministers have issued new guidance to streamline the process and to stop councils dragging their heels on mixed-race adoption, he added. The government's adoption adviser Martin Narey is also working to reduce delays in the system and to help local authorities improve their practices.

On average, it takes two years and seven months before children are adopted, with the process taking more than three years in a quarter of cases. Most adopted children are aged between one and four when they join their new family, with the average age at adoption standing at three years and 10 months.

The number of ethnic minority children adopted remains low, with just 60 Asian and 80 black children adopted last year, only 4% of the total.

Three-quarters of children in care, or 48,530, were placed with a foster family, and 12%, or 7,910, were cared for in residential accommodation such as a children's home or secure unit.

The number of children in care placed for adoption at the end of March was 2,450, a fall of 10% on 2007.

Anne Marie Carrie, chief executive of Barnardo's, said: "An increase in care numbers coupled with another consecutive drop in adoption rates and of children being placed for adoption is deeply worrying.

" Everyone involved in the care system needs to be braver and should 'act fast' to place children with a new permanent family when it is clear that, even with support, the child's birth family is not going to change and cannot cope.

"It is imperative that decision-making is sped up at every stage of the adoption process, as we know that by the time a child is four years old they already have a far lesser chance of being adopted than a baby.

"Successful adoptions not only transform the life of the child for the better, but also that of their new family."

The Fostering Network called for extra investment to ensure more foster homes are available for children in care.

Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the charity, said: "We know that fostering services and foster carers are under real pressure to deal with the continuing rise in numbers coming into care, and thousands more foster carers are still needed to provide stable and secure homes for all children who need them.

"We also need a renewed focus on improving stability and outcomes which remain nothing like good enough.

"Fostering must be a priority for both local and central government. In particular, it's essential that investment in foster care is protected and, wherever possible, increased, in order to ensure that all children who need it can live with the right foster family."