The Government have announced that the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will continue in 2025-26 with 31/03/2026 being the latest date therapy can be commissioned up to. A budget of £50m has been agreed. However, in order to support as many families as possible there will be changes to the ‘Fair Access Limit.’ This will now reduce from £5,000 down to £3,000 per year and there will no longer be provision for match funding. Specialist assessments up to the level of £2,500 will be considered for funding, but only within the overall Fair Access Limit of £3,000.
Family Adoption Links recognise and acknowledge the impact these changes will have, and we will continue to work with families and providers to ensure that the funding can continue to support as many families as possible.
Applications prepared in advance of these changes which exceed the new restrictions will therefore need to be amended and resubmitted, and we are already working on these to ensure they meet the requirements. Applications already approved, where these have continued from 2024-25 to 2025-26 under transitional funding arrangements will be honoured by the ASGSF.
We appreciate that this may create some concern about what this will mean for families. We are in the process of adapting to these changes and would like to provide reassurance that we will be in contact with those impacted to discuss and review how best to support you over the next year. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to updating our website and including further details in our adopter newsletter ‘Thrive’ over the coming months.
Thank you for being part of the Family Adoption Links community — we’re with you every step of the way.
