Children in Wiltshire are placed with new adoptive families faster than the national average.

The Adoption Scorecard is published by the government and gives a national picture of how well local authority adoption services are performing.

The average time for a child entering care to being adopted in Wiltshire, based on 2017 - 20 figures is 339.

This is an improvement from 2015 - 18 when that figure was 397 days, below the England average of 486 days.

Cllr Laura Mayes, cabinet member for children, education and skills said: "Finding the right family for our children and young people so they have a secure, stable and happy home life is of paramount importance.

"It is good to see that we are working well with Adoption West but also on a local authority level we need to ensure we are doing right by each and every child in our care.

“This holds up a mirror and helps us assess what is going well for our children and what we can do to continue to provide an even better service."

Since April 2019, the council has been a part of Adoption West – a regional adoption agency – but has the responsibility for its own children whilst the agency is responsible for assessment and support.