The Council will issue reminders to staff to ensure childcare costs are processed efficiently to prevent similar delays.

The Council has agreed to review its homelessness procedures and make any changes needed to ensure:• homeless applicants: with dependent children; aged 16 &17; or pregnant are only placed in B&B accommodation when no other accommodation is available, and for a maximum of six weeks;• it actively searches for suitable alternative accommodation for those households placed in B&B accommodation or unsuitable accommodation; and• it records and monitors the length of time households remain in B&B accommodation and the action being taken to move them to suitable accommodation.The Council has agreed to review its housing allocation procedures and make any changes needed to ensure:• its officers properly follow the process set out in its published scheme when making decisions about an applicant’s medical priority band – in particular that medical advisers give recommendations which the Council should consider together with the information provided before making a decision;• officers record their decisions about medical priority; and• when applicants are notified of a decision about their priority band they are also told about their right to ask for a review of the decision.

Adopt London West (ALW) with Adopt London South (ALS) will:work together to prepare a written leaflet (and/or online guidance) specifically for prospective adopters, setting out the procedures for meet before match meetings, their purpose and how they will be introduced to the child, and emphasising that a child will not be placed with them until formal approval by an adoption panel and agency decision maker. It should also be made clear in any guidance that decisions about a second meet before match meeting should be formally approved by management to properly assess and analyse why this might be necessary. The guidance should also explain that there are no payable expenses, and no adoption certificate will be issued until formal approval;if photographs/video are to be taken at the meet before match meetings, prospective adopters should consent in writing and be told what will happen to the photographs. It should be acceptable for prospective adopters not to agree to be photographed without concern that this would be regarded negatively. And, if prospective adopters decide that, in light of the information above, they would prefer to wait until formal approval, they should be offered the option of virtual observations of the child instead of a meet before match meeting.obtain prospective adopters’ formal written consent to the use of telephone messages, and be told that messages (including theirs) will be placed on relevant files. Also arrange a meeting with the medical advisor early in the process and consider whether prospective adopters should meet the foster carer before meeting the child.only arrange a family zoom meeting/appreciation day, and other transitional arrangements, once formal approval has been given.should develop a complaints policy that recognises relevant adoption-relatedmatters should be considered under the statutory Children Act complaintprocedures, and that there should be a joint, coordinated investigation (whenmore than one Council/RAAs is involved) led by the corporate parent, or in other cases, where the child resides.