What the average timescale is for an adoption order to be issued, from the time of placement of a child with prospective adoptive parents.

We do not hold information centrally on the timescales involved in the issuing of adoption orders.
The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 (the 2007 Act), which will come into force on 28 September 2009, requires a child, placed by an adoption agency, to live with a prospective adopter for 13 weeks prior to an adoption order being granted. New court rules have been developed as part of the implementation of the 2007 Act which govern the processes in court for the hearing and disposal of applications for adoption or the new Permanence Order. These court rules will give a framework for the timescales involved from the time a petition for an adoption order is lodged with the court to the point the application is disposed.