3.—(1) The Foster Placement (Children) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 M1 shall apply subject to the modifications in paragraphs (2) to (7).
(2) Regulation 3 (approval of foster parents) shall apply as if after paragraph (4) there was inserted—
“(4A) Where the conditions set out in paragraph (4B) are satisfied, an authority or voluntary organisation may approve a person to be a foster parent even though the information mentioned in paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 is not available and has not been obtained.
(4B) The conditions are that the authority or voluntary organisation has applied for an enhanced criminal record certificate pursuant to section 113B of the Police Act 1997 M2 and has obtained confirmation in writing from the Department of Justice that the prospective foster parent or any adult member of his household is not included in the children's barred list maintained under Article 6(1)(a) of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 M3.”.
(3) Regulation 4 (reviews and terminations of approval) shall apply as if—
(a)paragraphs (1) to (3) were omitted;
(b)in paragraph (4)—
(i)the words “on a review” were omitted;
(ii)in sub-paragraph (a) after “notice” there were inserted “ of its decision ” and the words “in accordance with paragraph (3)” were omitted;
(iii)for sub-paragraph (b) there were substituted—
“(b)that the foster parent and his household are suitable, it shall give notice of its decision to the foster parent terminating the approval from a date to be specified in the notice.”;
(c)in paragraph (6) for “(3)” there were substituted “ (4) ”.
(4) Regulation 6 (supervision of placements) shall apply as if—
(a)for paragraph (1)(a) there were substituted—
“(a)make arrangements for a person authorised by it to visit the child in the home in which he is placed in accordance with guidance issued by the Department; and”; and
(b)for paragraph (2) there were substituted—
“(2) In the case of an emergency or immediate placement under regulation 11, the responsible authority is to arrange for the child to be visited in accordance with guidance issued by the Department.”.
(5) Regulation 9 (short-term placements) shall apply as if—
(a)in paragraph (2) there were omitted “but with the modifications set out in paragraphs (3) and (4)”; and
(b)paragraphs (3) and (4) were omitted.
(6) Regulation 11 (emergency and immediate placements by authorities) shall apply as if—
(a)in paragraph (1) for the words “not exceeding 24 hours” there were substituted “ specified in guidance issued by the Department ”;
(b)in paragraph (3) for the words “not exceeding 12 weeks” there were substituted “ specified in guidance issued by the Department ”;
(c)after paragraph (3)(a) there were inserted—
“(aa)the person is a prospective adopter and an adoption agency has made a decision under regulation 11(1) of the Adoption Agencies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989 M4 that he is suitable to be an adoptive parent;
(ab)the person is registered as a child minder under Article 118 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995;”; and
(d)after paragraph (5) there were inserted—
“(6) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(aa), “prospective adopter” means any person who proposes to adopt a child.”.
(7) Regulation 15 (circumstances necessitating visits by authorities) shall apply as if for paragraph (1) there were substituted—
“(1) Subject to paragraph (2), every authority shall arrange for one of its officers to visit every child who is accommodated with a foster parent within its area by or on behalf of a voluntary organisation in accordance with guidance issued by the Department.”.