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Plenary, 07 Dec 2006

07 Dec 2006 · S2 · Plenary

Item of business

Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Brown, Robert LD Glasgow Watch on SPTV

Amendments 4A and 4B were lodged by Adam Ingram. The purpose of amendment 4A is to include counselling and assistance to birth parents who are considering giving up their child for adoption as a distinct service under section 1. That service would be provided automatically, without assessment. The point here is whether counselling and assistance to birth parents who are considering relinquishing their baby at birth—obviously an important matter—can be described as adoption support. We feel that it is reasonable to include support to a birth parent who is giving up, or thinking about giving up, their baby for adoption under the label of adoption support services. In practical terms, that means that a birth parent in such a situation would be subject to an assessment of need before the support services of counselling and assistance were delivered.

We view the automatic assessment as a positive mechanism rather than, as some people have argued, a means for local authorities to sift out people from receiving services, perhaps because of resource implications. The aim of assessment is to allow a structured, strategic, long-term approach to support, aimed at the specific targeting of services to needs, rather than generic provision in certain circumstances. It seems to us desirable that the complex needs of a mother who is relinquishing her child, when the emotional repercussions have lifelong implications, should be very carefully considered, perhaps almost more so than for anybody else who is receiving support of that kind.

That does not prevent such services from being delivered on an emergency basis under section 50, but a proper assessment thereafter is desirable for support planning and increasing the awareness of services available. In terms both of cohesive bill structure and of active management of birth parents' support needs, we want to retain that service under adoption support services with the associated amendment.

Amendment 4B would provide for services for supporting

"persons who may adopt a child"

and

"persons who have adopted a child"

and their families to be included in the definition of adoption support services in subsection (1D) that will be inserted by amendment 4. As far as we can see, that has already been accounted for by subsection (1D), which includes counselling, guidance and any other assistance in relation to the adoption process that the local authority considers appropriate under the definition of adoption support services, which are further defined as being provided to those who are listed at subsection (1B), including people who may adopt a child or who have adopted a child, and their children, or children treated by them as their children. As such, amendment 4B seems unnecessary, and it is rather vague, because it is not quite clear what is meant by the word "services" in that context, nor who is included in the meaning of the word "families".

I hope that Adam Ingram will accept my rather long and convoluted explanation of the matter, and will not move his amendments. I will be interested in hearing his comments.

I move amendment 1.

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Plenary, 07 Dec 2006

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