Clause 44 — Suitability Of Adopters

Part of Adoption and Children Bill – in the House of Commons at 5:00 pm on 4 November 2002.

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Photo of Jonathan R Shaw Jonathan R Shaw Labour, Chatham and Aylesford 5:00, 4 November 2002

My hon. Friend is indeed a loving and caring person. [Hon. Members: XHear, hear!"] I am doing well at the moment. I have called Madam Deputy Speaker XMrs." and now I have described my hon. Friend as loving and caring.

My hon. Friend would have been assessed on her ability to provide a stable relationship for her children. That is the basis on which all people are assessed. We cannot be the adoption panel. We should not talk about generalities. We need to talk about specifics, such as those difficult-to-place boys. The adoption panel makes the decisions in those cases, through rigorous assessment.