Part of Children and Young Persons Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 6:00 pm on 1 July 2008.
Kevin Brennan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Children, Schools and Families) (Children, Young People and Families)
6:00,
1 July 2008
The amendments made by Clause 34 are minor and are being made so that the review mechanisms for adoption and fostering are in line with each other. Subsection (2) clarifies that applications for a review of a qualifying determination are to be made to the appropriate Minister, not to the review panel. On receipt of an application, the appropriate Minister will constitute a review panel to review the qualifying determination. Subsections (3) to (7) remove from review panels the power to recover the cost of a review from the adoption agency that made the qualifying determination under review. Instead, it will be for the appropriate Minister to determine the sum that must be paid by the adoption agency. That will be based on the cost to the appropriate Minister of performing his independent review functions. In anticipation of this question, it will not and must not include any element of profit.
The only practical change for adoption agencies is that the review panel will not include in its written recommendations an order for payment of costs. Prospective adopters will not be affected by any of these changes and there will be no additional work for adoption agencies.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
