27% of children in care in Peterborough were found to have FASD.
That is not a national estimate applied to us. It is Peterborough's own research, published in 2015 and later cited in the Department of Health and Social Care's FASD health needs assessment in 2024. The same work found that 75% of children seen at adoption medicals had been exposed to alcohol before birth.
These are the figures accepted by the Government for the incidence of FASD within Looked After Children and the risk posed to those who are adopted.
Peterborough was one of the first places in the country to look properly. Eleven years on, our children still do not have a local diagnostic pathway. That is the vulnerable children for whom the Local Authority has already needed to step in to support by the most drastic of actions – removing them from their family.
The figures for Cambridgeshire are unlikely to be any different. We are neighbours after all.
Both Local Authorities have legally taken over the role of the parent, but what is that parent actually doing to identify and support this hidden disability?
Since 2009 there has been the statutory requirement to assess whether FASD plays a role in the lives of children in care. In theory every child with FASD in the two authorities should know. They don’t.
Every child with FASD should receive appropriate support from its corporate parents, it doesn’t.
Peterborough does not have to borrow anyone else's figures. It just has to act on its own.
Full local figures: https://www.fieldofenterprise.org/blog/the-cost-of-inaction-in-peterborough-cambridgeshire-2026-relating-to-fasd
#FASDGrowsUp #EveryonePlaysAPart #Peterborough #FASD #Fostercare #fostering #adoption #cambridgeshire
These posts across September 2026 are only possible due the support of the National Organisation for FASD. In June 2026, the Charity published an in depth look at the cost of FASD in the UK. professional AI software was used to interrogate available national data so that a detailed report could be written about the impact of FASD to the UK.
That report can be found here. https://nationalfasd.org.uk/the-cost-of-inaction-on-fasd/
After a discussion about whether the same software could be used to drill down into locally available data and interesting set of information appeared for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough as well as another set for Hertfordshire where the National Organisation has its office. The following posts reflect the information gathered for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Please search my other posts / blogs throughout FASD Awareness month 2026 for a full picture of the current situation and needs in Peterborough & Cambridgeshire UK.
Brian Roberts
September 2026
