Health Secretary Alan Milburn has pledged that the publication of long-awaited plans to improve adoption would happen "before long".

He told The Independent on Thursday after the Conservatives accused him of failing to take action when adoption was missed off this this week's Queen's Speech, that an imminent White Paper would be published and would spell out how to speed up the adoption process.

The Tories were not the only one to condemn the Government for failing to include adoption the Queen's Speech.

Dismay was expressed by the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering, campaign group the Adoption Forum and the NSPCC which said adoption reform was "long overdue".

"There has been concern that the current system is not sufficiently child-centred," said an NSPCC spokesperson.

"Children have often remained in the care system a long time before being adopted and more needs to be done to promote adoption as an option for children looked after by local authorities, and to speed up the process," added the spokesperson.

The charity called for the White Paper, which many in the adoption field believe will be published before Christmas, to fully address the needs of children in care and recognise that adoption is not always the best way to meet their needs.

"While adoption is one solution, the use of long-term foster care is often more appropriate for older children, and family group conferences can increase the possibility of placing children within their extended family."

It also called for more cash to provide children with appropriate therapeutic, education and health services while in care and additional post-adoption support to help reduce the likelihood of placement breakdown.

Support for birth parents should also be addressed, it says, because this is in the long-term interests of their children, and can help to facilitate an easier relationship between them at a later stage in their lives.

"The needs of the small, but significant, group of teenage mothers who are in local authority care need special consideration," it added.

The NSPCC also called for better adoption and child development training for staff.

"Ignorance of child development and in particular the importance of permanence for children and the role that can be played by adoption, is prevalent not only within social work but, it is privately admitted, within the legal profession and linked professions, far too few of whom had any real knowledge [of] its workings, implications and effects on lives," says the charity.

It concluded: "Too often, adoption is still presented as an ideal solution for children who simply need a loving home. In reality, many of these children are older and have endured cruelty, abuse, disrupted relationships, broken trust, rejection and a period of time in local authority care.

"We owe it to these children not to bring about another episode of failed relationships and rejection. This requires a well-funded, child-centred approach, backed up by sufficient post-adoption support services for both children and carers themselves."