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Adoption and Children Bill
8.30 p.m.
Consideration of amendments on Report resumed.
Baroness Barker moved Amendment No. 117:
- Before Clause 119, insert the following new clause—
"POWERS OF COURT IN CERTAIN FAMILY PROCEEDINGS
In section 37 of the 1989 Act (powers of court in certain family proceedings) there is inserted—
"(7) Where in any family proceedings in which a question arises in respect to the welfare of any child, the court shall have particular regard on the evidence before it to—
(a) the wishes and feelings of the child considered in the light of his age and understanding;
(b) the need for the separate representation of the child concerned, and upon making an order for separate representation the court may appoint a children's guardian;
and these shall be considered specified proceedings within the meaning of section 41 of this Act.""
On Question, amendment agreed to.
- Before Clause 119, insert the following new clause—
"PROCEEDINGS RELATING TO REPRESENTATION OF CHILD
In section 41(6) of the 1989 Act (representation of child and of his interests in certain proceedings) there is inserted—
"(j) on applications under section 8 in specified circumstances to be established by rules of court""
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 126 [Territorial application]:
- Page 74, line 15, leave out from "society" to end of line 16 and insert "whose principal office is in England"
Clause 126(1) provides the definition of the English adoption agencies to which the provisions on the register will apply. Subsection (1)(b) states that the definition includes,
- "a registered adoption society, where the registration authority is the National Care Standards Commission".
- "registered adoption societies, where the registration authority is the Assembly".
Clause 16 inserts a new Section 36A into the Care Standards Act. The new section will ensure that, given that branches of adoption agencies will not be registered separately, the National Assembly for Wales has the appropriate level of scrutiny over Welsh branches of voluntary adoption agencies registered in England. Similarly, it will ensure that the National Care Standards Commission has the appropriate level of scrutiny over English branches of voluntary adoption agencies registered in Wales.
The principle of Section 36A is that an agency that has its principal office in England will be registered by the NCSC and an agency that has its principal office in Wales will be registered by the Assembly. It also provides that the NCSC will be the registration authority for the inspection of voluntary adoption agency premises in England and that the Assembly will have the same function in Wales. If a voluntary adoption agency has, for example, a principal office in England and a branch in Wales, the registration authority inspecting a branch of the agency will be a different registration authority to the one that registers the agency as a whole.
Because it is possible that, in respect of a small number of agencies, it may not be easy to identify what is meant by the term "the registration authority", we
feel that it would be most appropriate to amend Clause 126 so that the definitions of voluntary adoption agencies refer instead to where the principal office of the agency is. That will meet the objective of ensuring that agencies that have their main presence in England use the register when the register applies to England and agencies that have their main presence in Wales use the register when the register applies to Wales. I beg to move.On Question, amendment agreed to.
Lord McIntosh of Haringey moved Amendments Nos. 120 and 121:
- Page 74, line 21, leave out from "societies" to end of line 22 and insert "whose principal offices are in Wales"
Page 74, line 33, leave out from "societies" to end of line 34 and insert "whose principal offices are in Wales"
Schedule 3 [Minor and consequential amendments]:
[Amendments Nos. 122 to 127 not moved.]
Baroness Barker moved Amendment No. 128:
- Page 96, line 1, leave out paragraph (i).
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath moved Amendment No. 129:
- Page 98, line 36, at end insert—
"30A In section 56 (authorised courts), in subsection (3), for "Great Britain" there is substituted "Scotland"."
On Question, amendment agreed to.
- Page 100, line 9, leave out paragraph 39.
Amendment No. 148 amends Schedule 4 to preserve the ability to amend and rectify registrations in respect of pre-1976 Act adoptions. I beg to move.
On Question, amendment agreed to.
[Amendments Nos. 131 to 134 not moved.]
Lord McIntosh of Haringey moved Amendment No. 135:
- Page 103, line 8, at end insert—
"( ) after subsection (4)(a) there is inserted—
"(aa) any person who by virtue of section 4A has parental responsibility for the child;""
The noble Lord said: My Lords, in moving Amendment No. 135, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 136 and 137.
Clause 110 inserts Section 4A into the Children Act 1989 in order to enable a step-parent to acquire parental responsibility for a child of his or her spouse. Section 4A provides two alternative routes for step-parents to acquire parental responsibility. Such
- responsibility may be acquired either by agreement between the step-parent and the parents who have parental responsibility for the child or by order of the court.
The measure is intended to provide an alternative to adoption if a step-parent wishes to acquire parental responsibility for his or her step-child. It has the advantage of not removing parental responsibility from the other birth parent and not legally separating the child from membership of the family of that birth parent. The amendments to the Children Act 1989 provide for step-parents to be able to hold parental responsibility for a child.
Amendment No. 135 amends paragraph 55 of Schedule 3, so that it inserts a reference to,
"any person who by virtue of Section 4A has parental responsibility for the child"
into Section 10(4), which covers the power to make Section 8 orders, of the Children Act 1989. That means that a person who obtains parental responsibility for a child as a consequence of new Section 4A is entitled to apply to the court for any Section 8 order—residence, contact, prohibited steps or specific issue orders—with respect to that child. Currently, they could apply to the court for leave to apply for a Section 8 order or, if they have a residence order, apply for a Section 8 order.
Amendment No. 136 amends paragraph 62 of Schedule 3, which amends Section 33 of the Children Act 1989, which deals with the effect of a care order. That section provides for the exercise by the local authority designated by a care order of its parental responsibility with respect to a child. The amendment substitutes a new Section 33, which provides that the local authority designated by a care order shall have the power to determine the extent to which a person who has obtained parental responsibility for a child as a consequence of new Section 4A may meet his parental responsibility for the child. The amendment also replaces references to the Adoption Act 1976 with the appropriate references to the Bill.
Amendment No. 137 amends paragraph 63 of Schedule 3, which amends Section 34 of the Children Act 1989, which is headed "Parental contact etc. with children in care". The effect of the amendment is that, if a child is in local authority care, the local authority may allow that child reasonable contact with a person who has obtained parental responsibility for him or her as a consequence of new Section 4A. That would already be the case, if a step-parent had a residence order immediately before the case order was made. I beg to move.
On Question, amendment agreed to.
- Page 104, line 18, leave out paragraph 62 and insert—
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