ices. 1.32. The agency adviser should maintain an overview of the quality of the agency’s reports, to both the panel and to the decision-maker, and liaise with team managers to quality assure the child’s permanence report, the prospective adopter’s report and the adoption placement report. Where there are concerns about a report, the agency adviser and the panel chair should consider whether it is adequate for submission to the panel. It will be for the agency adviser alone to decide whether the report is adequate for submission to the decision-maker. 1.33. The agency adviser should also update the panel on the general progress of cases it has considered. This is particularly important where the panel’s recommendation or advice was not accepted. Joint adoption panels 1.34. Where a local authority has difficulties in arranging frequent panel meetings or deals with a relatively small number of adoption cases, it should consider arranging with one or more other local authorities to have a joint central list and joint panels. Where such an arrangement is made, it will be for the local authorities to decide which of them has responsibility for appointing an agency adviser, maintaining the central list and setting up adoption panels. Having joint panels help ensure that decisions relating to children and prospective adopters are not delayed, as joint panels will meet more often and at a lower cost to the individual local authorities. There is no provision of VAAs to share panels, but different branches of the same VAA may share a panel. Performance 1.35. To ensure the chair and individuals on the central list remain suitable to remain on that list their performance is to be reviewed annually against agreed performance objectives. The agency’s decision-maker should review the 