Public Bill Committees

Previously called Standing Committees, Public Bill Commitees study proposed legislation (Bills) in detail, debating each clause and reporting any amendments to the Commons for further debate.

There are at least 16 MPs on a Committee, and the proportion of parties reflects the House of Commons, so the government always has a majority.

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    2nd sitting · Tuesday, 20 November 2001

    [Mr. David Hinchliffe in the Chair]

    • Placement Orders (clause 20)

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      12. A placement order is an order made by the court authorising a local authority to place a child for adoption with any prospective adopters who may be chosen by the authority. A local authority...

    • Access to Information (clauses 53 to 62)

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      17. The new version of the Bill aims to provide for a more consistent approach to access to information held in adoption agency records, and to information held in birth records. The Bill...

    • Intercountry Adoption (clauses 80 and 83)

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      19. The Bill includes new tighter controls on intercountry adoption. The need for improved safeguards was highlighted by the high profile Internet twins case earlier this year. The Government...

    • Devolution (clauses 113, 115 to 119 and 120)

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      28. The new Bill includes changes in respect of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 29. In respect of Wales, the Adoption Register provisions (clauses 115 to 119) now provide for the register...

    • Current position

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      3. Regulations1 provide that adoption agencies may disclose information in its possession, as it thinks fit for the purposes of carrying out its functions as an adoption agency. This enables for...

    • The Adoption and Children Bill, March 2001

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      11. The Adoption White Paper included a commitment to provide adopted people with consistency of access to information about their family history and their adoption. When the Adoption and...

    • New provisions on the disclosure of information

      159 speeches

      14. The Government has put forward proposals in the new version of the Bill that seek to create a new system for access to information. It would provide a single point of access to identifying...

    • b) Dispensation with parental consent

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      Although this change to placement orders removes one of our major concerns about the inadequacy of the grounds for dispensing with parental consent, it does not completely remove the problem. If...

    • 4. Adoption by Married Couples or Single People

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      We reiterate the concern expressed in our previous evidence (paragraph 9) at the failure to use this chance to amend the law by allowing two people living in a stable union—whether...

    • 5. Registration of Private Fostering

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      Again we would repeat our plea that this opportunity should be seized to protect a highly vulnerable group of children by legislation for the registration of private foster carers. Since our...

    • 7. the Adoption and Children Act Register

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      We welcome the addition of the provision enabling regulations to be made extending the use of the Register to other types of placement such as special guardianship. We also note with interest the...

    • 8. Intercountry Adoption

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      We note that clause 80 extends the restrictions on bringing children into the country to include cases where the child has been adopted abroad but without the proper (UK) procedures being...

    • 9. Consistency with the Children Act 1989

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      One of the objectives of this legislation, which we thoroughly applaud, is to bring adoption law into line with the Children Act 1989. Unfortunately, however, the Bill as currently drafted would...

    • Executive summary

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      The term ``private fostering'' is used to describe the situation when a child of up to 16 years of age (18 if disabled) is in the care of someone who is not his or her parent or relative for 28...

    • a) Adoption Placements by Consent

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      Clause 18 provides that an adoption agency is ``authorised'' to place a child for adoption when each parent or guardian has consented to placement (whether with a specific adoptive family, or...

    • b) Parental Responsibility

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      Under the Children Act parental responsibility is not usually conferred on a non-parent except by court order. The only existing exception to this is the appointment of a guardian to act after...

    • c) Decision to apply for placement order

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      Clause 21 of the Bill sets out the circumstances in which a local authority must or may apply for a placement order. The circumstances under clause 21(1) are those where the child has been...

    • d) Foster Carers

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      Clause 41 provides that foster carers who seek to adopt need to have had the child living with them for at least a year before making the application—but this condition may be waived if the...

    • 2. Adoption Support Framework

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      The Association welcomes the extension of entitlement to adoption support services for those who may be or have been adopted, birth parents and adoptive parents. The Association regards the...

    • 5. Intercountry Adoption

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      The Association welcomes tighter controls on intercountry adoption and tougher penalties on those seeking to circumvent proper procedures. Very careful consideration needs to be given as to which...

    • 6. Registration of Private Fostering

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      The Association believes that no opportunity should be lost to protect this particularly vulnerable group of children. In recognition of some recent high profile cases, we would respectfully...

    • 7. Resources

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      The Association respectfully suggests that there are very significant financial implications for local authorities in trying to comply with the requirements and expectations contained within this...

    • Memorandum from the Local Government Association

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      INTRODUCTION This briefing outlines the key issues for local government in the adoption and children bill. The bill sets out a range of proposals to improve the adoption service, which will...

    • Changes from the Earlier Bill

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      —stronger measures to stop people wishing to adopt from overseas from avoiding the proper assessment and approval procedures, plus tougher penalties if they attempt to get around the...

    • Clause 12 Independent review mechanism

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      Provision of a review mechanism for potential adopters who feel that they have been turned down unfairly is supported. Adoption agencies should be consulted on the proposals for regulations....

    • Clauses 53 to 62

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      The clauses in the Bill relating to the sharing of information are extremely complex and require clarification. Clause 54(6) provides for information to be shared where agreement is reached. We...

    • Clauses 80 to 87

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      Sections 9 and 14 of the Adoption (Intercountry Aspects) Act 1999 came into force on 30 April 2001, placing a duty on councils to establish and maintain a service that covers both domestic and...

    • Clause 115 Adoption and Children Register

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      The bill sets out measures to establish a national adoption register, which will hold details of all children waiting to be adopted and all approved adoptive families. The LGA supports measures...

    • Registration of Private Foster Carers

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      We recommend implementation of the recommendation in Sir William Utting's Report concerning private foster children. This would require the local authority to maintain a register of approved...

    • Funding

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      While we are pleased that adoption legislation is being brought up to date, thorough assessment will be need to be made of the funding requirements of the new adoption allowances, long-term and...

    • Further information

      133 speeches

      If you require further information please contact Dorothy Blatcher on 020 7664 3338 or email Dorothy.Blatcher@lga.gov.uk Felicity Collier, Chief Executive, British Agencies for Adoption and...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    3rd sitting · Wednesday, 21 November 2001

    [Mr. David Hinchliffe in the Chair]

    • Chapter 2

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      3.4 We think this clause needs strengthening by regulation to make it mandatory for care (local)authorities to provide multi-disciplinary assessments and plans (directly or indirectly)to ensure...

    • Chapter 3

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      20 Unless simultaneous Children Act 1989 and Adoption & Children Act decisions are made simultaneously, serious delay could result for any individual child.

    • Chapter 6

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      80.6 Any regulation that would require children brought into the UK to be reviewed/monitored by the Agency who had approved the adopters would have serious financial implications for voluntary...

    • Part 2

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      110 We welcome the concept of special guardianship in relation to children with significant kinship/friendship ties whose family wishes to remain long-term carers, as this would enhance the child...

    • PART 3 - Chapter 1

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      The capacity of the Adoption Register to tackle delay for children will be entirely dependent on adoption agencies, local authorities and courts working within integrated tight time scales that...

    • 1. the Adoption and Children Bill in General

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      The Society has long advocated the need for new legislation, which better reflects the needs of adoption today. Previous administrations, including the present one, have missed opportunities to...

    • 2. Three Key Issues

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      We wish to draw the attention of the Committee to the following: —Post Adoption Support —Access to Information, and —Eligibility to adopt with specific reference to marriage.

    • 3.1 Post Adoption Support

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      3.1.1 The Recognition in the Bill that adoption is a life-long commitment reflects the reality of good, loving and caring parenthood. This part of the Bill also recognises that many of the...

    • 3.2 Access to Information

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      3.2.1 Adopters need to have information about the child that is to be placed with them before placement, to help them plan and decide. When the child is placed they then need, at that point, as...

    • Clause 11: Fees

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      We are concerned that recognition is given to the significant contribution made by Voluntary Adoption Agencies to the adoption and post-adoption services throughout the United Kingdom and it is...

    • Clause 20: Placement Orders

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      We welcome steps which simplify the child's legal route to adoption whilst maintaining such safeguards as are necessary. We endorse this because the threshold becomes comparable between Care...

    • Clause 23: Revoking Placement Orders

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      We welcome this Clause for situations where children may continue to have been at risk from dangerous family members. Previous legislation allowed the legal challenge after a year if the child...

    • Clause 24: Parental Responsibility

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      We are concerned about the change from the current position, which moves parental responsibility from being given at the point of the Adoption Order to a possibly earlier stage. The fact that the...

    • Clause 49: Adoption by One Person

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      In situations where adoption is in the child's best interest, we positively welcome this Clause, as it provides an opportunity for mothers not to have to apply to adopt their own child, which we...

    • Clause 57: Disclosing Information to Adopters

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      We are very concerned that this Clause suggests that information is given to adopters after the granting of an Adoption Order. We believe this could render certain placements unstable and lead to...

    • Clause 104: Avoiding Delay

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      We welcome the avoidance of delay and the increased focus of the management of the process within the court system. In our experience, there can be substantial delays which originate from the...

    • Clause 110: Special Guardianship Orders

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      Broadly speaking, we welcome the extension of arrangements for children and particularly the requirement that special guardianship support is comparable with post-adoption support. We would...

    • Clause 115: Adoption and Children Act Register

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      Broadly speaking, we welcome introduction of the Register. Although as an Agency whose services focus very specifically on the needs of children awaiting adoption who are currently in Public...

    • Sibling Placements

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      Our adoption legislation has always come ``out of the stable'' of singleton placements and that is no longer the reality for a large proportion of children adopted from Public Care. Legislation...

    • The Contribution of Voluntary Adoption Agencies

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      It is important that the significant contribution of Voluntary Adoption Agencies to the adoption services as a whole are recognised. Between them, twenty-seven of the Member Agencies of the...

    • Examination of Witnesses

      138 speeches

      Naomi Angell, Network for Intercountry Adoption; Jacky Gordon, Head of Family Placement Services, Norwood Ravenswood; Vivienne Reed, Operations Manager for the Register, Norwood Ravenswood;...

    • Section 26 of the Children Act 1975

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      Because of many representations made by Adoption Agencies and adopted people, one of the tasks the Houghton Committee set up for itself was to find out more about the subject of access to birth...

    • Provisional Findings from Our Current Study

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      Studies across many countries and continents were also to show that parting with a child for adoption involves feelings of loss, grief, anger and guilt which for many birth parents cannot be...

    • Relevant Current Research Evidence

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      No research known to me has studied the perspectives and reactions of birth mothers who had been sought by their sons or daughters or who had themselves sought their sons or daughters. We are...

    • Discussion

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      What the above analysis tells us is that 94 per cent of the birth mothers who were sought by their sons or daughters had a very positive or positive experience and a similar proportion were very...

    • Memorandum from After Adoption - Introduction

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      The purpose of our evidence is to highlight certain aspects of the Bill as laid out in the following document. We have, however, decided to use the time allocated to us the Special Standing...

    • 4 Services to Birth Parents/Relatives

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      After Adoption welcomes clause 3 where it makes it clear the duty to provide Adoption support services to extend to natural parents and former guardians. However the Bill does not address whether...

    • 6 Adoption by married couples or single people

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      In relation to clause 47 After Adoption continues to be concerned that the bill still restricts adoption to married couples or single people. We are mindful of the Adoption Convention of 1967,...

    • 8 Status conferred by adoption

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      The wording of clause 64 (1) that an adopted child is to be treated as if he or she has been born as a child of that marriage is not a helpful statement. We believe that adoptive families have...

    • 9 Framework for allowances

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      After Adoption is concerned about the absence of a national framework for Post Adoption allowances. We regularly see discrepancies from one area to another. We also are aware that generous...

    • 10 Special Guardianship

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      After Adoption welcomes the introduction of special guardianship orders in clause 110. We feel this will provide a valuable option for some children for whom adoption is inappropriate. Many...

    • Conclusion

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      After Adoption welcomes the Adoption and Children bill but is clear that there is a need for the bill to address gaps and confusion about responsibilities which exists at present. We are happy...

    • About support - General

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      `I think that help should be there if needs be—I think a 24 hour phone helpline should be activated where you can discuss any problems that may arise in this difficult situation. The call...

    • Proactive support

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      ` gives you a chance to meet other people with the same kind of background and to get to know other people like you' `you can discuss things here that you wouldn't normally with other people' ...

    • About Contact

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      `I think that contact between the two halves of the family should be in forced if that is what both of the parties want.' `You should ask the child who they want to see because they want to see...

    • About information

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      `About our family history, why they were adopted and where they are going and what's going to happen.' `Who and where their parents are and that they know what it means- adoption that is'. ...

    • About After Adoption - VISION

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      After Adoption to be a National Organisation also operating Internationally and offering user led services to all that want to use them.

    • Mission

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      After Adoption's purpose is to enable people to deal with the difference adoption brings to their lives.

    • Aims

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      —To provide independent adoption related services in partnership with other agencies. —To develop innovative adoption projects. —To raise awareness and create a better...

    • Values

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      —We believe that the impact of adoption is lifelong, and services need to be provided acknowledging this. —We believe adoption is a social structure devised to care for children who...

    • The History and Work of After Adoption

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      The 1975 Adoption Act introduced a statutory responsibility for a fully comprehensive adoption service, but did not define this. Consequently, support for those touched by adoption has been very...

    • (i) Re: Central and Local Government

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      We have been very influential in pushing for change to benefit the care population, particularly through Quality Protects 1999-2004, Education Guidance for young people in public care (DH/DfES...

    • Special publications for children

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      We have produced many publications across a number of issues, including working with groups of children to communicate government policy to a child audience.

    • (2) Key Points on the Adoption and Children Bill

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      As will be clear from the above description of its work, the Trust does not run adoption services. However, because of the specific nature of its close work over many years with the looked after...

    • Examination of Witnesses

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      Mrs. Maureen Crank and Ms Lynn Charlton, After Adoption; and Susanna Cheal, Chief Executive, and Jenny Robson, Director of Development, Who Cares? Trust, called in and examined.

    • The following witnesses were examined:

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      The Adoption Forum Pauline Dancyger NORCAP Pam Hodgkins Family Rights Group Robert Tapsfield NSPCC Christine Atkinson Children's Society Kathy Evans Julia Feast Adoption UK Philly Morrall...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    4th sitting · Wednesday, 21 November 2001

    [Mr. David Hinchliffe in the Chair]

    • Memorandum by the Adoption Forum

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      The Adoption Forum welcomes the Bill very warmly. It will bring many necessary reforms to a system that has tragically failed far too many of the children in its care over the past years. We hope...

    • Independent Safeguards

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      There is general agreement, eloquently restated by the Secretary of State himself during the Second Reading of the Bill, that there needs to be `fundamental' and `cultural' change in the system...

    • National Database

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      Children can disappear in the system and there are some terrible cases to prove it. There are no centrally held records and on average a child moves around three times a year, sometimes beyond...

    • Changes in the Bill

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      There are other matters, namely support and information, included in the Bill over which we share huge concern with other organisations such as NORCAP, Adoption UK, and other adoptive family...

    • ii) Registration of adoption support providers

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      We welcome in theory the Bill's proposals to inspect and register the professional providers of adoption support so that standards are high and consistent. But we are concerned that this part of...

    • b) Information - i) Pre-adoption information

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      One of the root causes of disruption in placement/adoption is a lack of information about the child's history. Clause 57 proposes that information about a child's history should be disclosed as...

    • ii) Adopted adults seeking information

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      Since the Adoption Act of 1976 there has been a much more open attitude to adults seeking information about their past. This has proved beneficial for most: those who have wanted to seek their...

    • c) Intercountry adoption

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      This section of the Bill proved very difficult for us to understand (perhaps Clause 83 most of all). We are awaiting the interpretation of experienced legal counsel and hope to be able to speak...

    • Remaining Questions

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      There were certain other matters that we found puzzling or unclear: Clause 14 (1) and Clause 128: How is the Minister to discover a lack of compliance on the part of Local Authorities? Of...

    • Memorandum from Adoption UK - 1. INTRODUCTION

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      Adoption UK submitted evidence to the Special Select Committee on the previous Bill and gave oral evidence on 8th May 2001. We are delighted to have the chance to submit further evidence....

    • 3. Two Key Issues - 3.1 Access to Information

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      3.1.1 Information—about the child's birth family, background and experiences prior to being placed for adoption—is absolutely essential to adoptive parents. Adopters need this...

    • 3.2 Adoption Support

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      3.2.1 The Prime Minister's Review of Adoption and the subsequent White Paper acknowledged that children adopted from the care system will have experienced neglect, physical, sexual or emotional...

    • 4. Other Issues

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      Adoption UK is represented on the Adoption Law Reform Group convened by BAAF. This Group has been working together since the early 1990's and has reached considerable consensus on a wide range of...

    • 5. Conclusion

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      Adoption UK is acutely aware that the opportunity to bring adoption legislation in line with current good adoption practice and with the needs of all parties involved in adoption occurs very...

    • Access to Information (clauses 53 to 62)

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      1. As the Department of Health Memorandum states these provisions are new, they ask if they strike the right balance. Without doubt these provisions are new, they have taken the whole adoption...

    • 2 Adoption is for Life

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      2.1 This is the virtue of adoption. It is the reason why this Adoption and Children Bill is such a positive step forward for many children who may have no family for life if they move between...

    • General Comments on the Bill

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      The Fostering Network is anxious to ensure that fostering continues to be considered as a positive option for children. There will remain children for whom adoption is not the right solution, and...

    • Applications for Adoption (Clause 41)

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      Family life in Britain has changed dramatically since the last adoption legislation was produced and current legislation will probably be in place for at least another 25 years. We are...

    • Information (Clauses 53-62 and 76)

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      Under the Bill's provisions, if the birth parents had lodged an objection to the disclosure or their identity, the adopted adult would not be able to obtain his or her birth certificate. The...

    • About FRG:

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      Family Rights Group [FRG] supports families involved with social services by: —advising families who are involved with social services [we run a national telephone advice service] ...

    • FRG Submissions on the Reform of Adoption Law:

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      Throughout the last decade, we have been actively involved in the consultation process of the reform of adoption law. We have worked co-operatively with other adoption agencies such as BAAF,...

    • Our Submission on the Adoption and Children Bill

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      We refer to our previous evidence submitted to the Select Committee which considered the first Adoption and Children Bill. Most of the submissions we made still apply (save in relation the need...

    • Examination of Witnesses

      107 speeches

      Pauline Dancyger, Deputy Director, The Adoption Forum; Philly Morrall, Director, Adoption UK; Pam Hodgkins, National Organisation for Counselling Adoptees and Parents; Sue Gourvish, Head of...

    • Memorandum from Barnado's

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      Barnardo's is delighted to have the opportunity to give oral evidence to the Special Standing Committee on Part 2 of the Adoption and Children Bill. Barnardo's will be represented by Liz Garrett,...

    • Special Guardianship (Clause 14)

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      Adoption provides security and permanence to children, and at present the majority of children placed for adoption are under 5 years of age. Older children also are placed for adoption and this...

    • Care Plans (Clause 112) 31A (4)

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      It would be helpful for emphasis to be given to the fact that it is the local authority as a whole, which has corporate parenting responsibility for a child under a Care Order. All too often this...

    • Support Services

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      We welcome the proposals in clause 3 and section 14F of clause 110 that establish a duty on local authorities to make arrangements for the provision of adoption support services and special...

    • Fees

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      We are concerned about clause 11(1)[a] which we understand provides for powers to make regulations to underpin or make changes to the interagency fee which funds some of our services. If we are...

    • Information about a person's adoption

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      We are shocked to discover that clauses 53-62 and 76 propose fundamental changes to the way in which adopted people are currently able to access essential information about themselves: their...

    • Intermediary services for birth relatives

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      The impact of these provisions will be felt not only by adopted people but also by their birth relatives, including separated siblings. The Children's Society is currently undertaking another...

    • Special Guardianship Orders

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      We are supportive of the arrangements for special guardianship orders as they provide another option for permanency for children and young people.

    • jf12ÝSummary

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      Adoption, Search and Reunion is the first major British study to compare the characteristics and experiences of adopted people who search for birth relatives (searchers) with those who do not...

    • Searching for a birth relative

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      Most searchers set off to find their birth mother. There was a widespread hope that a successful search would improve feelings of happiness. Sixty five per cent of adopted people began their...

    • Non-searchers

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      Amongst non-searchers, there was an even split between those who said that they had not thought about searching and those who said they had actually thought about searching but had done nothing...

    • Gender and age

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      In terms of adopted people's broad biographical and adoptive family characteristics, there were few differences between searchers and non-searchers. The only significant difference between those...

    • Growing up adopted

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      The majority of adopted people in the survey had thought about one or more of their birth relatives when growing up. Over 80 per cent. of both searchers and non-searchers had wondered what their...

    • Contact and reunion with birth relatives

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      When they first met their birth relative, most adopted people said their feelings were either cautious ones of interest and friendship, or powerful ones of instant family bond and connection....

    • Evaluating the contact and reunion experience

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      Whether or not the contact with the birth relative was short-lived and difficult, or comfortable and long lasting, the majority of searchers (85 per cent.) and non-searchers (72 per cent.) said...

    • The experience of being placed transracially

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      In many respects, adopted people who had been placed transracially reported similar experiences and outcomes to those who had been in matched same-race placements. They were as likely to be still...

    • Making sense of the findings

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      More searchers than non-searchers describe relationships with their adoptive family and their overall experience of being adopted with mixed or, or in a few cases negative feelings. This suggests...

    • Implications for policy and practice

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      Recognition that adoption is a life-long experience and that people's need to access counselling and support services is not time-limited. The need for improved advice, guidance and support...

    • About The Children's Society

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      The Children's Society is one of the country's leading children's charities working with approximately 40,000 children and young people in around 100 projects throughout England and Wales. The...

    • About The Nuffield Foundation

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      The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established by Lord Nuffield. Its widest charitable object is ``the advancement of social well-being'' The Foundation has a special programme of...

    • Examination of Witnesses

      59 speeches

      Liz Garrett, Head of Policy, and Ann Haigh, Project Leader of Counselling Services, Barnardo's; Christine Atkinson, Policy Adviser, Child Protection, National Society for the Prevention of...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    5th sitting · Tuesday, 27 November 2001 · 11 speeches

    [Mrs. Marion Roe in the Chair]

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    6th sitting · Tuesday, 27 November 2001

    [Mrs. Marion Roe in the Chair]

    • Clause 1 - Considerations applying to

      54 speeches

      Amendment proposed [this day]: No. 1, in page 2, line 14, leave out `religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural'.—[Mr. Walter.] Question again proposed, That the amendment be made.

    • Clause 17 - Placement for adoption by agencies

      6 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 29, in, page 12, line 10, leave out `And adoption agency may' and insert `Where an adoption agency is satisfied that a child ought to be placed for adoption it may'.

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    7th sitting · Thursday, 29 November 2001

    [Mr. George Stevenson in the Chair]

    • Clause 19 - Advance consent to adoption

      15 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 46, in page 13, line 25, after `section', insert `and will be given a written explanation as to the timing and procedure by which consent can be withdrawn.'. In his...

    • Clause 20 - Placement orders

      42 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 32, in page 13, line 36, leave out subsection (1) and insert— `(1) A placement order is an order made by the court authorising a local authority— (a) to...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    8th sitting · Thursday, 29 November 2001 · 2 speeches

    [Mrs. Marion Roe in the Chair]

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    9th sitting · Tuesday, 4 December 2001 · 1 speech

    [Mrs. Marion Roe in the Chair]

    • Clause 94 - Proceedings for offences

      61 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 131, in page 51, line 6, leave out subsection (1). Welcome back, Mrs. Roe. As you said, we have finished clause 52—at least in parliamentary terminology. The...

    • Clause 96 - Proceedings to be in private

      12 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 134, in page 51, line 21, after 'camera', insert ', except where the judge deems it to be in the public interest to make all or part of the proceedings public and, in...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    10th sitting · Tuesday, 4 December 2001

    [Mr. George Stevenson in the Chair]

    • Clause 96 - Appeals

      3 speeches

      Amendment proposed [this day]: No. 134, page 51, line 21, after 'camera', insert ', except where the judge deems it to be in the public interest to make all or part of the proceedings public...

    • Clause 97 - Officers of the Service

      35 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 150, in page 51, line 35, after 'application', insert 'or by any local authority in whose care the child has at any time been placed.' We now come to an interesting...

    • Clause 104 - Avoiding delay

      17 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 141, in page 54, line 8, leave out from '(2))—' to end of line 17 and insert— '(a) draw up a timetable with a view to disposing of the application without...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    11th sitting · Thursday, 6 December 2001 · 1 speech

    [Mr. Jimmy Hood in the Chair]

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    12th sitting · Thursday, 6 December 2001 · 2 speeches

    [Mrs. Marion Roe in the Chair]

    • Clause 80 - Restriction on bringing children in

      112 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 159, in page 43, line 16, leave out 'six months' and insert 'one year'. Having been greatly enriched by that piece of information, I turn to more mundane matters. The...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    13th sitting · Tuesday, 11 December 2001

    [Mr. George Stevenson in the Chair]

    • Clause 82 - Restriction on taking children out

      13 speeches

      I beg to move, amendment No. 162, in page 44, line 38, leave out subsection 1(a). Having spent last week at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Western European Union, I have drawn the short straw...

    • Clause 83 - Overseas adoptions

      6 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 164, in page 46, line 6, leave out from beginning to first '''regulations''' in line 7. It is me again. I explained that earlier amendments were intended to remove...

    • Clause 86 - Section 85: supplementary

      16 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 168, in page 47, line 19, leave out 'England and Wales' and insert 'the United Kingdom'. The amendment relates to my confusion over the area to which we refer when we...

    • Clause 87 - Overseas determinations and orders

      10 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 169, in page 47, line 28, leave out 'colony' and insert 'British Overseas Territory.'. I fear that it is my turn again. The term ''colony'' seemed to be shouting out...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    14th sitting · Tuesday, 11 December 2001

    [Mrs. Marion Roe in the Chair]

    • Clause 2 - Basic definitions

      20 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 20, in page 3, line 7, leave out subsection (4). There is a degree of frivolity in our proceedings, Mrs. Roe, but it would be entirely out of order for me to explain...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    15th sitting · Thursday, 13 December 2001

    [Mr. George Stevenson in the Chair]

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    16th sitting · Thursday, 13 December 2001 · 1 speech

    [Mrs. Marion Roe in the Chair]

    • Clause 8 - Adoption support agencies

      33 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 2, in page 7, leave out line 17. I suppose that the amendment is probing. The paragraph that I seek to delete contains a catch-all phrase—an Uncle Tom Cobbleigh...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    17th sitting · Tuesday, 18 December 2001

    • Mrs. Marion Roe

      1 speech

      Under the terms of the programme resolution, we now come to clause 9.

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    18th sitting · Tuesday, 18 December 2001 · 2 speeches

    [Mr. George Stevenson in the Chair]

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    19th sitting · Thursday, 10 January 2002

    [Mr. George Stevenson in the Chair]

    • Clause 56 - Offence

      0 speeches

      Amendment made: No. 202, in page 32, line 33, leave out 'or 55(4)'.—[Jacqui Smith.] Clause 56, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

    • Clause 57 - Disclosing information to adopters

      23 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 52, in page 32, line 37, leave out 'As soon as practicable after the making of an adoption order' and insert 'At the time of making'. Good morning, Mr. Stevenson. I...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    20th sitting · Thursday, 10 January 2002 · 1 speech

    [Mrs. Marion Roe in the Chair]

    • Clause 60 - Counselling

      0 speeches

      Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill. Tim Loughton: Before we move on, I would be grateful if the Minister could fill in some of the detail. Given the issues that we have...

    • Clause 62 - Interpretation

      16 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 218, in page 35, line 23, at end insert 'or to information relating to his adoption'. The clause relates to interpretation and provides definitions for this group of...

    • Clause 74 - Adopted children register

      0 speeches

      Amendment made: No. 219 in page 40, line 14, at end insert: ( )The Adopted Children Register is not to be open to public inspection or search''.—[Jacqui Smith.] Clause 74, as amended,...

    • Clause 75 - Searches and copies

      0 speeches

      Amendments made: No. 220, in page 40, line 34, leave out electronic''. No. 221, in page 40, line 36, leave out from index'' to end of line. No. 222, in page 40, leave out lines 38 to 41 and...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    21st sitting · Tuesday, 15 January 2002 · 2 speeches

    [Mrs. Marion Roe in the Chair]

    • Clause 91 - Prohibition of certain payments

      12 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 259, in page 50, line 5, leave out from 'in' to end of line 6. Having discussed restrictions on arrangements and reports, we come to the prohibition of certain...

    • Clause 113 - Restriction on advertisements etc.

      9 speeches

      I beg to move, amendment No. 261, in page 63, line 38, after '88(2)' insert— '( ) a person other than an adoption agency is willing to receive a child handed over to him with a view to the...

    • Clause 110 - Special guardianship orders

      22 speeches

      On a point of order, Mrs. Roe. When special guardianship orders were discussed at our evidence-taking sittings, the Minister agreed to produce a report or letter of some sort that set out the tax...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    22nd sitting · Tuesday, 15 January 2002 · 2 speeches

    [Mr. George Stevenson in the Chair]

    • Clause 110 - Special guardianship orders

      58 speeches

      Amendment proposed [this day]: No. 257, in page 60, line 12, after 'guardian', insert 'and, (c) a birth parent'.—[Tim Loughton.] Question again proposed, That the amendment be made.

    • Clause 112 - Care plans

      3 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 252, in page 63, line 11, at end insert 'and reference should be made to all relevant departments within that authority.'. This is a small, probing amendment, and I...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    23rd sitting · Thursday, 17 January 2002

    [Mr. George Stevenson in the Chair]

    • New clause 10 - Amendment of section 17 of the

      11 speeches

      '. In section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (provision of support for children and their families) after subsection (1) there is inserted— ''(1A) In any case where a local authority have...

  • Adoption and Children Bill

    24th sitting · Thursday, 17 January 2002 · 1 speech

    Mrs. Marion Roe in the Chair]

    • Clause 126 - Rules of procedure

      8 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 11, in page 70, line 21, at end insert— '( ) In the case of an application for a placement order, for the variation or revocation of such an order, or for an...

    • Clause 129 - General interpretation, etc.

      5 speeches

      I beg to move amendment No. 271, in page 73, line 8, leave out subsection (2) and insert— '(2) In determining for the purposes of this Act with what person, or where a child's home is or a...

    • Clause 134 - Extent

      1 speech

      I beg to move amendment No. 267, in page 74, line 3, at end insert— '( ) So far as relating to provisions extending to Scotland, section 124 extends also to Scotland. ( ) In Schedule 4,...

    • New clause 6 - Disclosing information during

      0 speeches

      '(1) Regulations under section 9 may require adoption agencies in prescribed circumstances to disclose in accordance with the regulations prescribed information to prospective adopters. (2) In...

    • New clause 7 - Disclosing protected information

      0 speeches

      '(1) This section applies where— (a) a person applies to the appropriate adoption agency for protected information to be disclosed to him, and (b) none of the information is about a...

    • New clause 8 - Disclosing protected information

      0 speeches

      '(1) This section applies where— (a) a person applies to the appropriate adoption agency for protected information to be disclosed to him, and (b) any of the information is about a...

    • New clause 1 - Interviews with children

      8 speeches

      ' In the case of an application for a placement order, for the variation or revocation of such an order, or for an adoption order, no interview which is conducted with a child shall be relied...

    • New clause 4 - Extension of the Convention to

      3 speeches

      '(1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide for giving effect to the Convention in Northern Ireland. (2) An Order in Council under subsection (1) in respect of Northern Ireland may, in...

    • New clause 15 - Powers of the Secretary of State

      9 speeches

      'Any persons involved in the adoption or fostering process has the right to be informed of the power of the Secretary of State regarding lack of compliance on the part of local authorities and...

All bills in this session

Committee membership and attendance (out of 23)

Chairpersons

  • Mr David Hinchliffe (3)
  • Jimmy Hood (1)
  • Mrs Marion Roe (10)
  • Mr George Stevenson (8)

Members

  • Liz Blackman (21)
  • Julian Brazier (21)
  • Mr Hilton Dawson (22)
  • Jim Fitzpatrick (9)
  • Elfyn Llwyd (19)
  • Tim Loughton (22)
  • Andrew Love (21)
  • Margaret Moran (18)
  • Jonathan R Shaw (20)
  • Baroness Smith of Basildon (14)
  • Jacqui Smith (20)
  • Robert Walter (16)
  • Rosie Winterton (21)
  • Sandra Gidley (20)
  • Lord Bellingham (21)
  • Kevin Brennan (21)
  • Jonathan Djanogly (21)
  • Meg Munn (18)

[ Committee memberships can change partway through ]