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Official figures are not clearly reflecting the rise in adoption of children in care, Baaf Adoption and Fostering claims.

Office for National Statistics figures published last week indicate that the number of adoptions rose by just 1 per cent last year, despite government pressure on local authorities to place more children.

But Felicity Collier, chief executive of Baaf, said this figure was "misleading" because it included step-parent adoptions, which have been falling steadily for several years.

According to the ONS figures, there were 5,131 adoptions in England and Wales in 2001, an increase of just 49 on the previous year. Although the number of adoptions of children under five rose by 7 per cent from 2,367 in 2000 to 2,532 in 2001, those of older children fell by 4.5 per cent from 2,715 in 2000 to 2,599 in 2001.

But Collier said that, between March 2000 and 2001, there were 400 more adoptions of children in care in England than in the previous 12-month period, and an estimated 16 per cent fall in step-parent adoptions.