CHILD TO LIVE WITH ADOPTERS BEFORE ORDER MADE (Hansard, 28 October 1975)

§ Dr. Owen
I beg to move Amendment No. 3, in page 6, line 27, at end insert— '(3) An adoption order shall not be made unless the court is satisfied that sufficient opportunities to see the child with the applicant or, in the case of an application by a married couple, both applicants together in the home environment have been afforded—

(a) where the child was placed with the applicant by an adoption agency, to that agency, or

(b) in any other case, to the local authority within whose area the home is'.

Mr. Deputy Speaker
With that amendment we may discuss Government Amendments Nos. 5 and 9.

§ Dr. Owen
The amendment fulfils an undertaking given to the hon. Member for Wallasey (Mrs. Chalker) on 8th July 1450 to clarify one aspect of Clause 9. The Committee was concerned that Clause 9 appeared to allow a court to make an adoption order even though the child might have had his home with only one of the couple applying to adopt him. The amendments make it clear that, while the child has to have his home for a fixed period with only one applicant, the court, before making an adoption order, must be satisfied that the local authority or adoption agency reporting on the application has had sufficient opportunities to see the child with both applicants together in the home environment. I hope that the hon. Lady feels that I have met the point.

§ Mrs. Chalker
We are most grateful to the Minister for coming back with better amendments than those that I proposed in Committee. It is recognised on all fronts that unless a child has had the chance to settle down with both persons who might be in that environment—as we are trying to enshrine in other clauses—there may be consequent problems when new adults come into the home. I hope that this clause and other clauses that follow it will be welcomed by all hon. Members.