§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to issue his discussion paper on inter-country adoption as part of his review of adoption laws.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyWe intend to issue the discussion paper by Christmas.
§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the recent visit by officials to meet the Romanian Adoption Committee.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyOfficials from the Department of Health and Home Office visited Romania in November at the request of the Romanian authorities in connection with the adoption of Romanian children by citizens of the United Kingdom.
Visits were made to children's homes in Bucharest and a children's hospital in Alexandria. Meetings took place with the chairman and executive secretary of the Romanian Adoption Committee as well as officials from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and the Ministry of Education.
330WOfficials were also able to learn about the work being done by British and other voluntary agencies in the field of adoption and child care and had the opportunity to see at first hand some of the work carried out by the Romanian Orphanage Trust.
One of the successful outcomes of the visit was establishing strong links with the Romanian Adoption Committee and assisting it to set up effective procedures for processing applications from people in the United Kingdom who wish to adopt Romanian children.
§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has yet finalised the format for presenting the case of prospective adopters of children from overseas to foreign Governments; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Department has no plans to prepare a format for presenting cases to foreign Governments when United Kingdom citizens apply to adopt children from overseas. Cases are handled on a discrete basis and vary according to the country concerned.