A RADICAL overhaul to the adoption process has been announced by Government ministers, promising that more children will be moving faster through the system.

Millions of pounds are to be spent on the new proposals which aim to increase the number of adoptions by more than 40 per cent in the next five years.

The plans also aim to modernise and speed up the legal process, shortening the amount of time it takes to find a child an adoptive family.

Health secretary Alan Milburn announced last Thursday the publication of a new white paper entitled "Adoption -- a new approach" which outlined a series of proposed improvements to the adoption process.

He stated: "Children do best when they grow up in a stable, loving family. "Where children cannot live with their birth parents we have a shared responsibility to make sure they can enjoy the kind of loving family life most of us take for granted."

Key measures include:

£66.5 million to improve services and support for children and adoptive families

New national standards including timescales within which children should be found new families

Establishing a national adoption register for England and Wales

Introduction of a new right to an independent review for the potential parent if the agency plans to reject their application to adopt

Blackpool Borough councillor Henry Mitchell said he was delighted with the news.

"This is fantastic news for children and prospective adoptive parents alike," he said.

"It is so important that we get these children a permanent family home instead of being 'lent out' to foster family after foster family."