The Children and Adoption Act 2006 (England and Wales)
Information about and briefing documents related to The Children and Adoption Act 2006
Full text of the act and summaries of the main provisions
The Children and Adoption Bill introduces a number of provisions with regard to arranging contact with children following parental separation, and with regard to adoptions with a foreign element.
Part 2 of the Bill makes provision for the Secretary of State to suspend intercountry adoptions from a country if he has concerns about the practices there in connection with the adoption of children and also makes provision for the following other matters relating to intercountry adoption:
- providing a power for the Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales to charge a fee to adopters or prospective adopters for services provided in relation to intercountry adoptions;
- preventing an overlap of functions by local authorities where a child is brought into the country for the purposes of intercountry adoption; and
- amending section 83 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 to make it harder for intercountry adopters to circumvent restrictions on bringing children into the UK.
The full text of the Children and Adoption Bill as brought from the Lords on 30th November 2006 is available from this link on the Office of Public Sector Information website.
Accompanying Explanatory Notes are provided on that website.
Progress through Parliament
The draft Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill (Cm6462) was published by the DFES on 2 February 2005. Visit http://www.parliament.uk
Joint Committee on the Draft Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill
A Joint Committee of MPs and Peers Committee published a report on the bill (including recommendations relating to a government agency for intercountry adoption) on 12 April 2005 and the Government response to the report was published on 8 June 2005.
The Children and Adoption Bill was introduced to the House of Lords on 13th June 2005 and was brought to the House of Commons on 30th November 2005. It was examined by the House of Commons Standing Committee B in March 2006 and the full debates can be found at http://www.publications.parliament.uk
Full details of the Bill’s Parliamentary progress can be found at on this link.
BAAF's work on The Children and Adoption Bill
New Clause Proposed – Intercountry Adoption
A new Clause, giving the High Court power, subject to safeguards, to facilitate the movement of a child from England and Wales to another country for the purpose of adoption, where the placement will promote the child’s welfare, has been tabled for consideration during the final stages of the Bill. The wording of the new clause is provided in a pdf document and a briefing prepared by BAAF on the new Clause is provided in this pdf.
Tabled amendment to the Children and Adoption Bill – Private Fostering
Letter and briefing sent to all peers can be found in this this letter (pdf).
Concerns about the introduction of a fee for intercountry adoption applications
Prior to the second reading, BAAF and five other children's organisations wrote to Lord Adonis, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, expressing concerns about concerns about provisions in this Bill which introduce a fee for processing intercountry applications at the DfES.
Read the letter | Read Lord Adonis' response
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