Introduced as part of a raft of new approaches to tackle delays in the adoption system, scorecards were intended to allow local authorities and other adoption agencies to monitor their own results against their previous performance and others.

The impact of these scorecards is immediate and clear: prospective adopters can now make a more informed choice about where to begin their adoption journey and adoption has risen up the agenda as more local and regional media comment on
statistics relevant to their locality.

Adoption UK believes that by raising the profile of adoption and allowing prospective adopters to see the number of children awaiting adoption in areas across England each child will have the greatest chance of finding the right family, particularly as we know that the right match for a child may be outside of the area in which they live.

From our membership of over 9,000 adopters, we know that people's experience of the adoption system varies greatly.

One key variable is the proficiency of the authority through which they apply. We know that many prospective adopters put a lot of consideration into which agency they choose.

Instead of working independently with a localised focus and subsequent small pool of potential adopters, local authorities need to work together, share resources and ideas and learn what works for them.

The award winning Four 4 Adoption consortium is an encouraging example of local authorities joining forces to promote adoption across a more diverse range of people in a wider area.

Initiatives such as television advertising have resulted in the teams from Tameside, Trafford and Stockport and Cheshire East increasing the number of approved adopters across the four regions by 50%.

As well as better, wider recruitment drives and raising the profile of adoption, support is also a key factor for helping local authorities meet the increased targets.

Adoption UK knows from its membership that the guarantee of adoption support is crucial to helping people think positively about adopting children from care. Our recent survey found that more than two thirds of prospective adopters would be wary
or would not consider adopting if adoption support was not available.

And yet, a recent release from Ofsted shows that 1,122 families who adopted children in the year April 2012 to March 2013 requested a post-adoption support assessment – yet only 81% were given support during that year.

To meet the adopter recruitment challenge the adoption sector must remember that ongoing support packages are key to successful adoption placements. The adoption
system is changing, and it is changing quickly.

Board will focus on providing more dependable and timely data on the number of approved adopters and children waiting to be adopted.

Information from local authorities will be presented alongside data from voluntary agencies and will be available within two weeks of collection.

This will provide greater understanding of what the data represents at the present time rather than 12 months prior allowing discussions to focus on ongoing plans and action rather than a debate around whether the data is relevant.

Encouragingly adoption is on the rise, but homes are still needed for several thousand of society's most vulnerable children.

Adoption UK hopes that adoption scorecards along with additional adoption policy reforms currently being implemented will make an enduring difference for children who have had the worst possible start in life.

Hugh Thornbery is Adoption UK's chief executive