The number of children being adopted in Warwickshire had risen sharply in the last year.

A report by Warwickshire County Council's Adoption Panel revealed that 23 children were approved for adoption in the 12 months from April 2001 to April 2002 compared with 15 in 1999-2000.

In addition to these approvals, 34 families were also approved to adopt during 2001-02, compared with just eight in 1999-2000.

Some 25 matches of children to potential adoptive parents were approved last year - more than double the number in 1999-2000.

The report attributes the rising figures to work done by the county's Social Services. Simon Lord, Head of Children's Services and chairman of the Adoption Panel, said: "I am absolutely delighted with the progress we have made in adoption.
"We have increased the number of adoptions and exceeded our government target of five per cent for the number of children in local authority care being adopted.
"Over the year we saw the creation of the central adoption services team, dedicated to providing a broad range of adoption services, including recruiting more adoptive families.
"We also had a positive best value review of adoption, which made a series of extremely constructive recommendations."

Welcoming the report was county councillor Mick Jones, whose portfolio as a council cabinet member is for young people, families and lifelong learning.
He added: "This is very good news.
"The dedication of staff across the county and new developments, in particular the creation of a central adoption team, are making a real difference to vulnerable children who need a permanent homes with loving adoptive families.
"We have laid sound foundations for a high quality adoption service and I look forward to seeing further improvements."

The report also found that further work to improve adoption services included the recruiting of a wider range of adopters able to meet the needs of children from black, ethnic minority or mixed race backgrounds and children with special needs.