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If you are in the UK please lobby your MP about, The Access to Information
(Pre-Commencement Adoptions) Regulations 2004 which have been published in
draft form for further consultation.
[url]http://www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/conDetails.cfm?consultationId=1248[/url]
If you live outside of the UK but are affected by this legislation by
virtue of having been involved in an adoption that took place in England or
Wales then please write directly to The Minster for Children and Families,
the Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP at the address on the Consultation document or
via your local British Embassy or Consular Office or High Commission.
Do you want a social worker to be able decide whether it is appropriate for
your birth relative to be able to search for you? Surely only you should
have that decision to make? If a social worker feels that an applicant may
have a harmful intent then surely she should refer the matter to the High
Court as is the present procedure when there is such concern about an
adoptee applying for access to birth records.
Do you want a civil servant to be able decide whether it is appropriate for
your birth relative to be able to search for you?
Do you want to be charged hundreds of pounds for a search for your birth
relative that should cost no more than few pounds? There seems to be no firm
regulation on fees, or on what means of test will be made in deciding who
may be excused those fees.
When Section 9, 98, and 144(2) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 was
being debated in 2002 many people and organisations expressed concern that
so much was being left to "secondary legislation", that is, rules and
regulations made up by Civil Servants and passed without proper full
parliamentary debate. Ms Jacqui Smith the minister in charge at that time
told us all that there would be full public debate on these regulations.
For the Adoption and Children Act 2002 see
[url]http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/20020038.htm[/url]
And its Explanatory Notes
[url]http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/en2002/2002en38.htm[/url]
Responsibility has now shifted to the Department for Education and Skills
and to the Minster for Children, Ms Margaret Hodge. Many of you will
remember Ms Hodge, but just in case here is a little of her history.
From the Guardian.
[url]http://society.guardian.co.uk/child...1087250,00.html[/url]
Do you want to let this woman to get away with depriving you of a democratic
right.
I do think numbers are going to be important here, so I hope everyone will
use the Feedback Form at
[url]http://www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/conDetails.cfm?consultationId=1248[/url]
to make their own comments as well.
Some people have contacted me to say that they have had difficulty
downloading the documents from the DoH/DfES websites so I have put the full
package of documents as a Zip file at
[url]http://homepage.mac.com/harritt/consultation.zip[/url]
I also hope that everyone will write to their own MP to ask him or her to
ask Ms Hodge the Minister in charge of this consultation why it does not
meet the the guidelines set out in the 'Code of Practice on written
consultation'?
It is important that you do it that way as your MP is obliged by rules of
parliamentary procedure to answer a constituents letter. And a Government
Minister is obliged to answer any questions put to him/her by a member of
parliament.
Specifically the guidelines state:
1/ Consultation widely throughout the process, allowing a minimum of 12
weeks for written consultation at least once during the development of
policy
It is now about half way through this consultation, few of the general
public or the majority of people who might want to respond have been made
aware of this consultation.
2/ Be clear about what your proposals are, who may be affected, what
questions are being asked and the timescale for responses
There are a number of instances where they have not been at all clear about
what the proposals are and who will be affected.
3/ Ensure that your consultation is clear, concise and widely accessible.
It is very poorly accessible, the website keeps moving is difficult to find
and does not work properly.
None of the meetings that have been convened on this consultation are open
to the public at large, nor even to the majority of those who will be
affected by this legislation, very few if any of the individuals who have
contributed to previous rounds of consultation seem to have been invited to
consultation meetings. The DfES seems to have assumed we are all happy to
let a few organisations that represent less than 1% of us speak for us all.
Here is part of the e-mail from the DfES again, please don['t shoot the
messenger here. We want a response from Margaret Hodge the Minister for
Children and Families.
<quote>
... I am sorry that I was unable to give you advance notification of the
publication of the consultation documents. In the lead-up to publication,
the date of publication changed several times in order that we could
generate media interest. Margaret Hodge was also keen to publicise the
consultation through TV and radio so we had to delay publication to
accommodate her availability for interviews etc. The week in which we
published the consultation document was particularly frenetic.
The consultation document is available on-line at
[url]www.children.doh.gov.uk/adoption.[/url] It is also available on the DfES'
e-consultation system. This allows users to view the document on screen and
to provide written comments/feedback on-line. This site can be accessed at
[url]www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations[/url]
Turning to the consultation process, I hope you will understand that we do
not have the capacity to convene consultation events for the public and
service-users as well as practitioners. As you know, this consultation
exercise is part of a much wider work programme to implement the 2002 Act
and we have therefore had to limit the number of consultation events so that
all the consultation packages could be accommodated. We have invited a range
of stakeholder representatives, including those representing birth
relatives, adoptive parents and adopted persons and we believe that these
organisations will effectively communicate the views of those people whom
they represent. Finally, I should point out that the consultation workshops
are primarily technical, designed to help refine the secondary legislation
and supporting guidance in collaboration with those practitioners who will
be using the documents on a daily basis. Of course we value the view of
service users too but I think it is right that practitioners are given
priority for the consultation events. Of course, as the consultation
document makes clear, we welcome the written comments of any person with an
interest in adoption and guarantee that all written responses will be
carefully considered before the regulations and guidance are finalised. We
are also looking at developing more detailed good practice guidance before
the regulations come into force in September 2005 and this may present
further opportunities for service users to contribute....ԓ
<end quote>
As you can see from the e-mail quoted above the government is not at all
interested in hearing the views of those affected by this legislation, only
those of the social worker and organisations that will administer it.
I hope everyone will understand how important this is and do their bit by
answering the Consultation by using the Feedback Form and by writing to
their MP in the terms outlined above.
Address your letter to.
Your MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
Do it before it's too late
Or If you live outside of the UK but are affected by this legislation by
virtue of having been involved in an adoption that took place in England or
Wales then please write directly to The Minster for Children and Families Rt
Hon Margaret Hodge MP at the address on the Consultation document or via
your local British Embassy or Consular Office or High Commission.
Robin Harritt
[url]http://harritt.net[/url]
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