as to suitable arrangements to ease the child’s transition. Non-agency adoption applications Preparation of the report 8.111. As for agency adoptions, this report is one that must only be prepared by a person who meets the requirements of the ARR. Where Annex A uses the term ‘the adoption agency’ this refers to the local authority in non-agency cases, although there are some pieces of information requested that will not be applicable in non- agency cases. Confidentiality 8.112. The comments regarding the confidentiality of the report in agency cases apply, but in many non-agency cases the identity of the prospective adopter will be known to the birth parent. Nevertheless there will be cases where even though the birth parent is aware of the identity of the prospective adopter there may be good reason for not disclosing information as to the current whereabouts of the child, so care will still be needed in the way the report is set out. Contents of the Report 8.113. In most non-agency cases, the local authority will have had to gather all the information needed for the report during the course of its investigation following 158 notice given in accordance with section 44 of the Act. In some cases, much of the material will already be available, for example, where the prospective adopter is a local authority foster carer, and the child is looked after by the local authority writing the report. It will facilitate the task of gathering the necessary information if the prospective adopter is shown a copy of the Annex A format early on during the investigation, so that they are aware of what will be needed. The preparation of the report is not the same as an assessment of prospective adopters under the AAR, but some of the practice guidance Preparing and assessing prospective 