BRADFORD'S adoption waiting list has been completely cleared for the first time ever, after a national overhaul of the system.

Last week, there were no children seeking permanent new homes, with the Council saying this was thanks to Government reforms as well as a new preference in the courts to place children with family or friends.

Councillor Ralph Berry, executive member for health and social care, said: "It's really good news. We have got to the position where we are able to say children aren't waiting any longer than necessary."

There had been more than 90 children waiting to be adopted in the district back when the Government overhauled the system in 2013.

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These reforms saw local authorities given a grant to improve the adoption process, and were worth more than £2.5 million over two years in Bradford.

Julie Jenkins, Bradford Council's assistant director for children's specialist services, said the money had been used to increase the number of approved adopters and "to be proactive in finding families for the 90 children we had at that time".

She said: "This enabled us to place a high number of children and significantly reduce the number waiting for adoptive families.

"So, two years ago Bradford had over 90 children waiting for a family; this number has reduced over the past months to an all-time low and a position where all children waiting had been matched to a family.

"Currently, we have 23 children with a plan for adoption, 19 of them are matched with a family; so today we are actively looking for adoptive placements for only four children.

"The figure is never static and changes on a daily basis."

Ms Jenkins said the courts had also begun to favour placing children with family or friends, rather than a new adoptive family, so the numbers of children awaiting adoption had fallen.

She said: "The children who do come through the legal process with adoption as their plan often have additional needs and are over four years old."

And Cllr Berry said the Council had also invested its own money in improving the process locally, adding that he wanted to thank the staff for their hard work.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "We have overhauled the adoption system, resulting in record highs in adoptions and thousands more of our most vulnerable children being given the loving and permanent homes they need more quickly than before.

"Where adoption is in the best interests of the child it is right that they are placed with their new family as soon as possible – we continue to support councils and social workers to help streamline the process."

Anyone wanting to find out more about adoption can visit www.bradfordadoptionfostering.org.