AMENDMENTS OF ADOPTION LEGISLATION (Hansard, 23 October 1989)

HC Deb 23 October 1989 vol 158 cc501-7 501

§ Mr. Mellor
I beg to move amendment No. 335, in page 124, line 11, leave out 'and'.

§ Madam Deputy Speaker
With this we will take Government amendments Nos. 336, 222, 415 to 417 and 223.

§ Mr. Mellor
These are consequential and technical changes to terminology used in the Bill.

§ Amendment agreed to.

§ Amendments made: No. 336, in page 124, line 12, after 'children', insert 'and children accommodated by health authorities and local education authorities or in residential care, nursing or mental nursing homes or in independent schools.'.

§ No. 222, in page 125, line 25, leave out 'subsection (7)' and insert 'subsections (7) and (8)'.

§ No. 415, in page 126, leave out lines 35 and 36 and insert 502 'after subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsections— (1A) An application for such an adoption order shall not be made unless the person wishing to make the application has, within the period of two years preceding the making of the application, given notice as mentioned in subsection (1). (1B) In subsections (1) and (1A) the references to the area in which the applicant or person has his home are references to the area in which he has his home at the time of giving the notice".'.

§ No. 416, in page 126, line 38, leave out from 'and' to end of line 40 and insert 'for the words "in the care of" there shall be substituted "looked after by".'

§ No. 417, in page 127, line 16, at end insert— '(3) In subsection (5) of that section— (a) for the word "receives" there shall be substituted "receive"; and

§ No. 469, in page 128, line 29, leave out from 'but' to end of line 30 and insert 'provided, equipped and maintained by the Secretary of State;'.—[Mr. Mellor.]

§ Mr. Mellor
I beg to move amendment No. 418, in page 129, line 9, leave out from `children)' to end of line 30 and insert 'in subsection (1) for the words "subsections (4) and (6)" there shall be substituted "what follows". (2) For subsections (3) to (7) of that section there shall be substituted— (3) Before supplying any information to an applicant under subsection (1), the Registrar General shall inform the applicant that counselling services are available to him—

(a) if he is in England and Wales

(i) at the General Register Office;

(ii) from the local authority in whose area he is living;

(iii) where the adoption order relating to him was made in England and Wales, from the local authority in whose area the court which made the order sat; or

(iv) from any other local authority;

(b) if he is in Scotland—

(i) from the regional or islands council in whose area he is living;

(ii) where the adoption order relating to him was made in Scotland, from the council in whose area the court which made the order sat; or

(iii) from any other regional or islands council;

(c) if he is in Northern Ireland—

(i) from the Board in whose area he is living;

(ii) where the adoption order relating to him was made in Northern Ireland, from the Board in whose area the court which made the order sat; or

(iii) from any other Board;

(d) if he is in the United Kingdom and his adoption was arranged by an adoption society—

(i) approved under section 3,

(ii) approved under section 3 of the Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978,

(iii) registered under Article 4 of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987,

from that society. (4) Where an adopted person who is in England and Wales—

(a) applies for information under—

(i) subsection (1), or

(ii) Article 54 of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987, or

(b) is supplied with information under section 45 of the Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978,

503 it shall be the duty of the persons and bodies mentioned in subsection (5) to provide counselling for him if asked by him to do so. (5) The persons and bodies are—

(a) the Registrar General;

(b) any local authority falling within subsection (3)(a)(ii) to (iv);

(c) any adoption society falling within subsection (3)(d) in so far as it is acting as an adoption society in England and Wales.

(6) If the applicant chooses to receive counselling from a person or body falling within subsection (3), the Registrar General shall send to the person or body the information to which the applicant is entitled under subsection (1). (7) Where a person—

(a) was adopted before 12th November 1975, and

(b) applies for information under subsection (1), the Registrar General shall not supply the information to him unless he has attended an interview with a counsellor arranged by a person or body from whom counselling services are available as mentioned in subsection (3).

(8) Where the Registrar General is prevented by subsection (7) from supplying information to a person who is not living in the United Kingdom, he may supply the information to any body which—

(a) the Registrar General is satisfied is suitable to provide counselling to that person, and

(b) has notified the Registrar General that it is prepared to provide such counselling.

(9) In this section—

"a Board" means a Health and Social Services Board established under Article 16 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972; and

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made by the Registrar General.'.

§ Madam Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 419 to 424.

§ Mr. Mellor
These amendments to schedule 9, which relates to the Adoption Act 1976, are largely technical changes to clarify the operation of adoption legislation throughout the United Kingdom.

§ Amendment agreed to.

§ Mr. Ronnie Fearn (Southport)
I beg to move amendment No. 472, in page 129, leave out from line 32 to line 47 on page 130 and insert— '51A.—(1) The Registrar General shall cause to be maintained a register to he called the Adoption Contact Register which shall be governed by regulations. (2) The Register shall include adopted persons, their adoptive parents/guardians and relatives, adoptive parents/ guardians only shall be able to register on behalf of a child under 18. At that age the adopted person may complete a new registration in his/her own right. (3) In this section "relative" means any person other than an adoptive relative who is related to the adopted person by blood (including half blood) or marriage. (4) A fee as prescribed may be charged for inclusion in the Register. (5) An entry made on the Register may be amended on request. (6) Any notice given under this section must be in such form as may be determined by the Registrar General. (7) The holder of the Register shall facilitate contact or an exchange of information between persons on the Register, offering appropriate assistance. (8) The Register shall not be open to public inspection or search, and the holder of the Register shall not supply any person with information entered in the Register, except in accordance with this section. (9) The Register may be kept by means of a computer. (10) In this section "prescribed" means prescribed by the Secretary of State.'.

504

§ Madam Deputy Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 337 to 339.

§ Mr. Fearn
Amendment No. 472 was tabled in response to a consortium of adoption support groups who have had a working party looking into the possibility of setting up an adoption contact register for some time now. They were naturally pleased when this measure was introduced as part of the Bill. However, they felt that the proposed operation of the service as outlined in paragraph 21 of schedule 9 will benefit few and have the potential to result in great distress for many individuals and their families. Their key concern is that the use of the expression "wishes to contact", which is used throughout the clause, is open to many interpretations, and they would like those words to be removed. There is concern also that no support services are offered to the person attempting to make contact. In the Bill as drafted, it is contact initiated by the adoptive person.
Potential users of the register require a more flexible service to meet their needs in a more sensitive way. There is great emotion and potential heartache, and in some cases there is potential for lives to be destroyed in this difficult matter, and we must be sure that adequate support services exist.
There was concern that the clause did not contain a minimum age limit, but I accept that Government amendments have properly addressed that problem. Government amendments have partly met the working party's concern that the register should provide for the exchange of non-identifying information and advice, but it is important also that there is an opportunity for adoptive parents and their families to exchange mutually useful information during the childhood of the adopted person.
Paragraph 21 includes operational detail which, in primary legislation, may prove to be restrictive. Therefore, the working groups would like to see the register governed by legislation. My amendment will meet the needs of those concerned in a more sensitive and appropriate manner. I should like the Minister to refer to the key concern, which is to remove the phrase "wishes to contact".

§ Mr. Mellor
I am grateful to the hon. Member for Southport (Mr. Fearn) for his recognition of the extent to which the changes made by the Government have had an impact on the area of concern that he has outlined. However, I am afraid that I cannot advise the House to accept his amendment.
The register will be held by the registrar general in circumstances where he will have no facilities for offering assistance to those who wish to make contact. However, the changes that we have introduced will enable people to make use of professional and other specialist services. As part of the administration of the scheme, the registrar general will inform all users of the services, such as the social services departments and other agencies, from whom advice and assistance may be obtained. Therefore, the registrar general will be of some assistance, but I am afraid that that assistance will be limited by the nature of the registrar general's operations. I do not believe that an expansion of those operations to meet the point that the hon. Gentlemen has raised can be justified. For the reasons that have already been given, it is not appropriate for the contact register to be used by children under 18.
505 I hope that the hon. Gentleman will feel that a lot has been done to tighten up this area, and I hope that he will understand why I cannot invite the House to accept the amendment in the terms that he has tabled it.
Three amendments in this group are Government amendments and I shall refer to them briefly, the hon. Member for Southport having kindly commended some of them already. We want to improve the adoption contact register. It has been brought to our notice by groups and individuals who have a special interest in this provision that it would be more helpful if relatives seeking to contact an adopted person could offer, for the purposes of the contact register, the address of a third party who would act as an intermediary. The provisions as amended will therefore enable the registrar general to enter on the register, for transmission to an adopted person, an address at or through which a relative may be contacted, even though it is not the relative's own address. That will meet a practical point. Many relatives will no doubt be happy to give their own address, but care and sensitivity are needed where people are seeking knowledge of each other in these often delicate circumstances. Some people prefer to make a first approach through an intermediary with skill and experience in smoothing the path for both parties. These arrangements will also allow relatives to explain through a sympathetic intermediary that they prefer to restrict contact to, say, the exchange of information or letters, rather than a meeting. Some voluntary agencies, I am glad to say, have already expressed a willingness to provide their addresses and services and no doubt others will be equally willing.
The other amendments provide, as I have already explained, for use of the register to be restricted to people of 18 years old or more. That is the age limit for access by an adopted person to his original birth record, which we believe is the right approach.
Obviously, all those issues will, in due course, be part of a wider review of adoption law, but I cannot advocate any further changes until that point. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will not be offended if I do not invite the House to accept his amendment. I hope that he will take some comfort from the fact that, as he acknowledged in his speech, we have done a good deal to make the register workable and will keep under review the way that it works.

§ Mr. Fearn
I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.

§ Amendment by leave, withdrawn.

§ Amendments made: No. 337, in page 130, line 4 at end insert 'has attained the age of 18 years and'.

§ No. 338, in page 130, line 18, after '(5)', insert has attained the age of 18 years and'.

§ No. 339, in page 130, line 45, after 'marriage;' insert— '(aa) "address" includes any address at or through which the person concerned may be contacted;'.

§ No. 419, in page 133, leave out lines 26 to 29.

§ No. 223, in page 133, line 43, leave out 'After section 72(1) there shall be inserted—' and insert 'For section 72(1A) there shall be substituted the following subsections—'.

§ No. 420, in page 134, leave out lines 2 to 14 and insert— '"(3) This Act extends to England and Wales only.".'.

§ No. 421, in page 135, line 28, leave out from '"receive"' to end of line 30.

506

§ No. 422, in page 135, leave out lines 37 to 43 and insert— '41. In section 45 (adopted children register)— (a) for the words from "or an approved" in subsection (5) to the end of subsection (6) there shall be substituted— Board or adoption society falling within subsection (6) which is providing counselling for that adopted person. (6) Where the Registrar General for Scotland furnishes an adopted person with information under subsection (5), he shall advise that person that counselling services are available—

(a) if the person is in Scotland—

(i) from the local authority in whose area he is living;
(ii) where the adoption order relating to him was made in Scotland, from the local authority in whose area the court which made the order sat; or
(iii) from any other local authority in Scotland;

(b) if the person is in England and Wales—

(i) from the local authority in whose area he is living;
(ii) where the adoption order relating to him was made in England and Wales, from the local authority in whose area the court which made the order sat; or
(iii) from any other local authority in England and Wales;

(i) from the Board in whose area he is living;
(ii) where the adoption order relating to him was made in Northern Ireland, from the Board in whose area the court which made the order sat; or
(iii) from any other Board;

(d) if the person is in the United Kingdom and his adoption was arranged by an adoption society—

(i) approved under section 3;
(ii) approved under section 3 of the Adoption Act 1976; or
(iii) registered under Article 4 of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987,

from that society. (6A) Where an adopted person who is in Scotland—

(a) is furnished with information under subsection (5); or
(b) applies for information under—

(i) section 51(1) of the Adoption Act 1976; or
(ii) Article 54 of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987,

any body mentioned in subsection (6B) to which the adopted person applies for counselling shall have a duty to provide counselling for him. (6B) The bodies referred to in subsection (6A) are—

(a) any local authority falling within subsection (6)(a); and
(b) any adoption society falling within subsection (6)(d) so far as it is acting as an adoption society in Scotland.";
(b) in subsection (7)—

(i) for the word "under" there shall be substituted "from a local authority, Board or adoption society falling within";
(ii) for the words "or adoption society which is providing that counselling" there shall be substituted ", Board or adoption society"; and
(iii) after the word "authority" where it second occurs there shall be inserted ", Board"; and

(10) In this section—

"Board" means a Health and Social Services Board established under Article 16 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972; and
"local authority", in relation to England and Wales, means the council of a county (other than a 507 metropolitan county), a metropolitan district, a London borough or the Common Council of the City of London.".'.

§ No. 423, in page 136, leave out lines 38 to 41.

§ No. 424, in page 136, leave out from beginning of line 47 to end of line 10 on page 137.—[Mr. Mellor.]