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Keir Starmer has formally apologised for the British state’s role in historic forced adoptions after decades of campaigning by mothers and children affected.

The government said the “state did not do enough to protect mothers, children and families”, that it “failed to prevent harm from continuing” and that it bore responsibility for funding and legitimising the system that allowed the adoptions to take place.

About 185,000 birth mothers and children were affected by forced adoptions between 1949 and 1976 in England and Wales, due to stigma around pregnancy outside marriage at the time.

The government said an apology alone was “not enough” and that £4m would be used to help people access their adoption records, reconnect with family members, and create testimonial projects to document the long-term impact on people’s lives.

The government has also committed to improving access to mental health support, and creating a lived experience reference group to review progress of its commitments.

The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said: “The pain carried by mothers, adopted children and their families who suffered this appalling injustice is unimaginable. Today, on behalf of the British state, we say with one voice: this was wrong, and we are sorry. An apology cannot undo what happened, but it can be the start of real change, alongside providing the practical action, care and support that people need.”

Campaigners have been calling on the government to formally apologise for decades – the Church of England and the head of the Catholic church in England and Wales have previously issued apologies, as have the Welsh and Scottish governments.

In Northern Ireland, work is under way to set up a statutory public inquiry and financial redress scheme relating to mother and baby institutions.

In 2022, a report by the UK parliament’s joint committee on human rights recommended the government issue a formal state apology, but the Conservative government at the time declined this and instead said it was sorry “on behalf of society”.

Starmer’s government said it understood some people’s experiences fell outside the period 1949 to 1976, when more rigorous consent procedures were introduced, and that it was “deeply upsetting to hear examples where coercive practices continued”.