A
BILL
TO
Require the Secretary of State to make provision to extend the system of
parental responsibility agreements to enable a kinship carer to obtain parental
responsibility for a child they are raising without having to bring a case to
court; and for connected purposes.
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Application of provisions
(1) The Children Act 1989 is amended as follows.
(2) After section 4A insert—
“4B Acquisition of parental responsibility by relative
(1)
5A relative shall acquire parental responsibility for a child if the relative
and the parent or parents who have parental responsibility for the child
make an agreement providing for him or her to have parental
responsibility for the child.
(2)
An agreement under subsection (1) is also a “parental responsibility
10agreement”, and section 4(2) applies in relation to such agreements as
it applies in relation to parental responsibility agreements under
section 4.
(3)
A parental responsibility agreement under subsection (1) may only be
brought to an end by an order of the court made on the application—
(a) 15of any person who has parental responsibility for the child; or
(b) with the leave of the court, of the child himself.
(4)
The court may only grant leave under subsection (3)(b) if it is satisfied
that the child has sufficient understanding to make the proposed
application.”
Kinship Carers (Parental Responsibility Agreements) BillPage 2
2 Short title and commencement
(1)
This Act may be cited as the Kinship Carers (Parental Responsibility
Agreement) Act 2011.
(2) This Act comes into force on the day on which it is passed.