Neither the Department for Transport nor Network Rail hold this information.

The Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board collects and publishes information on adopter registrations and adopter approvals. Personal information on prospective adopters is, however, not collected. As a result, the department cannot estimate how many are employed or self-employed.

The Government has focused on supporting employed parents to take time off work to care for and bond with their adopted child because they have less flexibility with their work than self-employed parents. However local authorities can provide a discretionary payment equivalent to Maternity Allowance to self-employed adopters. This payment is discretionary and means-tested to ensure that resources are targeted at those adopters who need it most, as part of a package of post-adoption support.

The Government has focused on supporting employed parents to take time off work to care for and bond with their adopted child because they have less flexibility with their work than self-employed parents. However local authorities can provide a discretionary payment equivalent to Maternity Allowance to self-employed adopters. This payment is discretionary and means-tested to ensure that resources are targeted at those adopters who need it most, as part of a package of post-adoption support.

Self-employed adoptive parents may be supported in a range of ways by local authorities, including through financial support where applicable, as set out in the statutory guidance on adoption.

This says that local authorities should consider making a payment, equivalent to maternity allowance, in cases where adopters do not qualify for any statutory payment because of their self-employment.

The government does not currently have plans to review further the rights and entitlements of adopters, nor to conduct an equalities impact assessment on statutory adoption pay. However, the department continually keeps under review the need to revise guidance, including the statutory guidance on adoption.

The Government has no plans to introduce an Adoption Allowance for self-employed people.

Local Authorities can make discretionary payments to self-employed adopters who do not qualify for Statutory Adoption Pay.

The government recognises that it is crucial to the success of an adoption placement that an adopter takes time off work to care for and bond with their child. To date, the government has focused on supporting employed parents, as they do not generally have the same level of flexibility and autonomy over how and when they work as self-employed parents do.

Self-employed adoptive parents may be supported in a range of ways by local authorities, and it is not possible to make a ready comparison between these arrangements and statutory adoption pay provisions. Maternity payments, such as the maternity allowance, are not intended to assist with the costs associated with a new child.

The department’s statutory guidance covering financial support applies to all local authorities in England, and this does not vary by geographical region. We continually keep under review the need to revise guidance, including the statutory guidance on adoption. No specific information has been collected about the extent to which local authorities provide support as specified in paragraph 9.38 of the guidance. However, we have regular conversations with both local authority leaders and with leaders of regional adoption agencies about a wide range of adoption-related issues.

The department supports a range of activities to encourage the recruitment of prospective adopters, including £2 million to date towards a national recruitment campaign. The campaign messages continue to make abundantly clear that adopters are welcome from all walks of life and backgrounds. There are now significantly more prospective adopters than children waiting to be adopted. No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits and effectiveness of the statutory guidance and other support arrangements.

The government recognises that it is crucial to the success of an adoption placement that an adopter takes time off work to care for and bond with their child. To date, the government has focused on supporting employed parents, as they do not generally have the same level of flexibility and autonomy over how and when they work as self-employed parents do.

Self-employed adoptive parents may be supported in a range of ways by local authorities, and it is not possible to make a ready comparison between these arrangements and statutory adoption pay provisions. Maternity payments, such as the maternity allowance, are not intended to assist with the costs associated with a new child.

The department’s statutory guidance covering financial support applies to all local authorities in England, and this does not vary by geographical region. We continually keep under review the need to revise guidance, including the statutory guidance on adoption. No specific information has been collected about the extent to which local authorities provide support as specified in paragraph 9.38 of the guidance. However, we have regular conversations with both local authority leaders and with leaders of regional adoption agencies about a wide range of adoption-related issues.

The department supports a range of activities to encourage the recruitment of prospective adopters, including £2 million to date towards a national recruitment campaign. The campaign messages continue to make abundantly clear that adopters are welcome from all walks of life and backgrounds. There are now significantly more prospective adopters than children waiting to be adopted. No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits and effectiveness of the statutory guidance and other support arrangements.

The government recognises that it is crucial to the success of an adoption placement that an adopter takes time off work to care for and bond with their child. To date, the government has focused on supporting employed parents, as they do not generally have the same level of flexibility and autonomy over how and when they work as self-employed parents do.

Self-employed adoptive parents may be supported in a range of ways by local authorities, and it is not possible to make a ready comparison between these arrangements and statutory adoption pay provisions. Maternity payments, such as the maternity allowance, are not intended to assist with the costs associated with a new child.

The department’s statutory guidance covering financial support applies to all local authorities in England, and this does not vary by geographical region. We continually keep under review the need to revise guidance, including the statutory guidance on adoption. No specific information has been collected about the extent to which local authorities provide support as specified in paragraph 9.38 of the guidance. However, we have regular conversations with both local authority leaders and with leaders of regional adoption agencies about a wide range of adoption-related issues.

The department supports a range of activities to encourage the recruitment of prospective adopters, including £2 million to date towards a national recruitment campaign. The campaign messages continue to make abundantly clear that adopters are welcome from all walks of life and backgrounds. There are now significantly more prospective adopters than children waiting to be adopted. No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits and effectiveness of the statutory guidance and other support arrangements.

The government recognises that it is crucial to the success of an adoption placement that an adopter takes time off work to care for and bond with their child. To date, the government has focused on supporting employed parents, as they do not generally have the same level of flexibility and autonomy over how and when they work as self-employed parents do.

Self-employed adoptive parents may be supported in a range of ways by local authorities, and it is not possible to make a ready comparison between these arrangements and statutory adoption pay provisions. Maternity payments, such as the maternity allowance, are not intended to assist with the costs associated with a new child.

The department’s statutory guidance covering financial support applies to all local authorities in England, and this does not vary by geographical region. We continually keep under review the need to revise guidance, including the statutory guidance on adoption. No specific information has been collected about the extent to which local authorities provide support as specified in paragraph 9.38 of the guidance. However, we have regular conversations with both local authority leaders and with leaders of regional adoption agencies about a wide range of adoption-related issues.

The department supports a range of activities to encourage the recruitment of prospective adopters, including £2 million to date towards a national recruitment campaign. The campaign messages continue to make abundantly clear that adopters are welcome from all walks of life and backgrounds. There are now significantly more prospective adopters than children waiting to be adopted. No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits and effectiveness of the statutory guidance and other support arrangements.

The government recognises that it is crucial to the success of an adoption placement that an adopter takes time off work to care for and bond with their child. To date, the government has focused on supporting employed parents, as they do not generally have the same level of flexibility and autonomy over how and when they work as self-employed parents do.

Self-employed adoptive parents may be supported in a range of ways by local authorities, and it is not possible to make a ready comparison between these arrangements and statutory adoption pay provisions. Maternity payments, such as the maternity allowance, are not intended to assist with the costs associated with a new child.

The department’s statutory guidance covering financial support applies to all local authorities in England, and this does not vary by geographical region. We continually keep under review the need to revise guidance, including the statutory guidance on adoption. No specific information has been collected about the extent to which local authorities provide support as specified in paragraph 9.38 of the guidance. However, we have regular conversations with both local authority leaders and with leaders of regional adoption agencies about a wide range of adoption-related issues.

The department supports a range of activities to encourage the recruitment of prospective adopters, including £2 million to date towards a national recruitment campaign. The campaign messages continue to make abundantly clear that adopters are welcome from all walks of life and backgrounds. There are now significantly more prospective adopters than children waiting to be adopted. No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits and effectiveness of the statutory guidance and other support arrangements.

This information is not collected centrally for adoptive families or for prospective adopters.

The government wants the adoption system to welcome prospective adopters from all walks of life and backgrounds.

Throughout the pandemic, the Government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK.

The Government put in place a very substantial package of support through the furlough and self-employed income support schemes (SEISS), support for businesses through grants and loans, business rates and VAT relief.

The Government acknowledges that it has not been possible to support everyone as they might want, and that the rules, criteria and conditions needed to ensure the effective operation of the SEISS have meant that some people did not qualify. The design of the SEISS, including the eligibility requirement that an individual’s trading income must be at least equal to their non-trading income, means it is targeted at those who are most reliant on their self-employment income.

The SEISS is also just one element of a substantial package of support for the self-employed. The self-employed may also have access to other support available, including Restart Grants, the Recovery Loan scheme, business rates relief, and other business support schemes.

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme continues to be just one element of a comprehensive package of support for the self-employed. Those ineligible for the SEISS Grant Extension may still be eligible for other elements of the financial support available. The Universal Credit standard allowance has been temporarily increased for 2020-21 and the Minimum Income Floor relaxed for the duration of the crisis, meaning that where self-employed claimants' earnings have significantly fallen, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings.

In addition to this they may also have access to other elements of the package, including Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.

The guidance we have published on safer working is designed to help employers, workers and the self-employed understand how to work safely, including what employers need to think about to adapt a workplace to manage risk in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

We know that every organisation is different. Employers and the self-employed can use the guidance to create specific plans for their business in consultation with those who are affected by their operations, including workers and contractors. Plans will depend on the nature of the business, such as the sector, and the details of the workforce and operations.

Claiming Maternity Allowance or taking parental leave does not mean that the trade has ceased, and therefore should not affect a person’s eligibility for the Self Employment Income Support Scheme as long as the individual intends to return to the trade after maternity/paternity/adoption leave. The Chancellor indicated that delivering a scheme for the self-employed is a very difficult operational challenge, particularly in the time available. There is no way for HMRC to know the reasons why an individual’s profits may have dropped in earlier years from income tax self-assessment returns. However, to help those with volatile income in 2018/19, an individual can determine their eligibility on either their profits in 2018-19, or on an average between 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Anyone who submitted a tax return in 2018/19 will be eligible for the SEISS. The Government recognises that some people may not have submitted a 2018/19 return for a range of reasons, including due to parental leave. The scheme has been designed to deliver support as quickly as possible to millions of self-employed individuals by using information HMRC already holds, and any risks to the delivery of the scheme must be minimised.