Adoption and Children Bill
7:00 pm
Lord Northbourne (Crossbench)
My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister. I am in a strange position, because the argument should really be between the Minister and the noble Earl, Lord Russell. The noble Earl said that it was unreasonable of me to assume that it was possible to identify relationships that would be successful in the future. However, the whole gravamen of what the Minister said throughout this afternoon's debate has been that assessment is key. Either an assessment works or it does not. It can be made to work, but only to a point; and it must not be relied on entirely. Furthermore, anything that can be done to strengthen that assessment must be in the interests of all the parties including the children.