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Mr. Collins: I was struck by the comments of the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Dr. Brand), who produced a number of superficially cogent reasons why he felt that although the objective was shared by all hon. Members, new clause 6 was not the best means of securing it. In many respects the debate so far has established that with adoption, the best is often the enemy of the good.
Although the hon. Gentleman may be right that to say at some time in the future there might be a superior legislative vehicle, this is the only one available in the current parliamentary Session; it may well be the only legislative vehicle available before the next general election. So, despite the fact that the hon. Gentleman's arguments seem to have some force, if the alternative is to wait not just months, but possibly years for any legislation on the matter, accepting new clause 6, possibly with an undertaking to amend or improve it in another place, would be a sensible means of making progress.
The same argument applies to the important points made by the hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Mr. Dawson), who acknowledged that the new clause embodied an important objective, but asked why we had to have this debate. It is important to recognise that we are dealing with a subject that should be properly debated and fully discussed.
In that context, I would like to put on record something on which hon. Members on both sides of the House are united, but which has not been properly expressed tonight. Although there is a general preference and presumption in favour of adoption over local authority care, that does not mean that any right hon. or hon. Member is belittling
the enormous contribution made by people who work in local authority care, many of whom do an immensely good job, work extremely hard and should be rewarded and applauded for the sacrifices that they make. However tonight's debate concludes, many children--particularly those who are in care--will be looked after by local authority care workers for a long time. In the overwhelming majority of cases, they will be looked after extremely well. It is important that that should be put on record in the overall context of adoption.
Mr. Dawson: I agree with everything that the hon. Gentleman has said. Does he accept that a large proportion of children and young people in care still have good relationships with their natural families and often return to them shortly after being taken into care? Therefore, a large proportion of young people in care are not available for adoption, which in any case would not be appropriate for them.
Mr. Collins: The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. It is essential to recognise that although there is cross-party agreement that adoption should be made easier and more widespread, there will always be a continuing role for local authority care, for the reasons that the hon. Gentleman mentioned, among others.
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The hon. Gentleman spoke about cases in which adoption is rarely, if ever, the best outcome. However, it is important to stress that in most other cases adoption offers the best prospect of giving children permanent and secure homes in a genuine family atmosphere. Moreover, there is a long-term aspect. Children's need for emotional, financial or practical support does not end at 16 or 18. It may be easier for them to receive that from adoptive parents than from local authorities, which, given the calls on resources, tend to concentrate their efforts on younger children.
Most children would benefit if a national adoption register, as provided for in new clause 6, were established. As the hon. Gentleman said, the child's interests must come first. However, there is often no conflict between the interests of the child and those potential adoptive parents. Both sides are seeking to create a loving family atmosphere from which all involved can benefit. I know that the hon. Gentleman did not mean to imply it, but it is important to accept that there is not necessarily a conflict of interests in such cases.
The House seems to agree about the principle of a national adoption register. What should be its characteristics? I agree with the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Dr. Brand) that such a register has taken a long time to arrive, having been promised by Governments of all political colours. I hope that we will move forward with it, and I welcome the conclusions in the consultative paper that suggest that the Government are persuaded of the need for the register.
The register must set out clear standards that are openly arrived at and clearly understood. Implicit within new clause 6 is the question of the extent to which criteria for inclusion in the register are widely explained, so that people understand them. They should be published,
on the internet and elsewhere, so that people will be able to understand why they have or have not been included. Understanding is limited at present by the different approaches adopted by local authorities.New clause 6 offers potential adoptive parents two possible routes by which they may get on to a register. Under new clause 6(4), they can apply to their local authority.
Mr. Fabricant: Does my hon. Friend share my concern--which I am ashamed to say was also expressed by the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Dr. Brand)--that people considered suitable by a local authority five years ago may not now be considered suitable?
Mr. Collins: I take the point, which was made originally by the hon. Member for Isle of Wight. I understand why some time period should be specified, and I can see why five years was chosen, although I am not sure that that is the right length of time. However, a much shorter period would require quite a lot of bureaucracy, as what would amount to a rolling review would have to be instituted.
In addition, a proper notification mechanism would be needed for people on the register who are no longer considered suitable. The reasons for such a change may be more or less dramatic, but we need a clear procedure by which the local authority, or other public body that acquired the relevant information, could notify the holders of the national register and get the person concerned removed as fast as possible.
The time involved would have to be more than a year, but I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Mr. Fabricant) that five years may not be ideal. However, as I said earlier, the best can sometimes be the enemy of the good. Even though I would not die in the trench for every word of new clause 6, I would rather have it than not have any such provision at all.
I was talking earlier about the two routes by which a potential adoptive parent could register interest and be approved. The first is the existing route through the local authority. The second, which is set out under the procedures covered by subsections (2) and (3) of new clause 6, would allow people to apply directly to the holders of the national adoption register for inclusion there and then. Potential adoptive parents who, for whatever reason--perhaps no more than a simple personality clash--feel that they have incurred the displeasure of their local authority, or rather, the small number of decision makers in their local authority, and who, for good reasons or ill, have lost confidence in their local authority, could have a second bite of the cherry. This should not be a way of enabling clearly unsuitable candidates to exploit a loophole and get on to a register. However, borderline candidates, or those who had a problem at the start of their application process, would know more clearly the reason for the decision that was reached, even if the final answer was still no. They would know that their case had been properly aired by people who were not headquartered in their local area.
Proposed subsection (5) of new clause 6 would allow appeals to be made. In her excellent speech introducing the new clause, my hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) explained why it would be desirable to have an appeal mechanism independent of the local
authorities. She explained that that is a slightly different approach from that set out by the Government in their consultation paper, because it would involve something more than a simple aggregate of local authorities across England and Wales. That is an important point, which I hope that the Minister will address in his remarks.Whether the body holding the register should be, as the Government propose, an aggregate of the local authorities, or whether it should be, as is proposed in new clause 6, the National Care Standards Commission or another body, the appeals mechanism must be seen to be independent of the holding body. It would not be in the spirit of new clause 6 if the appeals mechanism set up by the National Care Standards Commission to allow its decisions to be appealed against, were part of the commission. "Independent" must mean independent of the commission as well as of local authorities.
The objective of new clause 6 is very important. It is clear from what has been said, and from the many powerful examples cited by my hon. Friends and others, that, unfortunately, we have a postcode lottery. Potential adoptive parents and children are treated very differently according to where they are resident at any given time. That is difficult to justify, and although inherent in any system of local discretion and local authority control is the possibility of differentiation, the differences described in the debate are on such a scale as to be difficult to justify. The principle of a national register must be right, and it must be right that we put such a register on the statute book as soon as possible.
I was intrigued by the earlier remarks of the hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre. He said that he believed that it would be possible for progress to be made on the Government's report without legislation. He seemed to be saying that he thought that it would be possible for a register to be set up without any statutory framework. The hon. Gentleman is nodding vigorously, so I must be paraphrasing his remarks accurately. I should be very interested to hear whether the Minister confirms that, and if so, whether the Government intend to proceed with establishing a register in advance of legislation. If they intend to do so, would such a register be made statutory sooner rather than later, or do they foresee an indefinite period during which the register would operate with no statutory backing? That could raise difficulties when controversial decisions--in a minority of cases, I hope--were appealed against in the courts. If the register had no statutory backing, the Government would be creating a rod for their own back.
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