The Adoption and Children Act 2002 (Commencement No. 7) Order 2004

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order is the seventh Commencement Order made under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (“the Act”).

Article 2(1) brings into force on 7th December 2004 the following provisions of the Act —

• as respects England and Wales—

  • section 2(1) to (5), (7) and (8) (basic definitions);

  • section 45 which enables regulations to be made in respect of the suitability of adopters;

  • section 108 which enables regulations to make various provisions to give effect to orders made in the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands;

  • section 122(1)(b) and (2) (interests of children in proceedings); and

• for the purposes only of making regulations—

  • section 44 (prescribed references and cases to the appropriate local authority to which notice of intention to adopt is to be given in non- agency cases);

  • sections 77(3), 78(3), 79(5) and (7) to (9), 80(2), (4) and (6) and 81(4) and paragraphs 1 and 3 of Schedule 1 and paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 (the registration of adoptions and the various registers);

  • sections 83(1) to (7) and (9), 84, 86 and 87(1)(a), (2), (5) and (6) (regulating adoptions with a foreign element);

  • section 92 (restrictions on arranging adoptions);

  • section 94 (restriction on reports);

  • section 115 and paragraph 60 of Schedule 3 and section 139 in so far as it relates to that paragraph (special guardianship);

  • section 117 (inquiries by local authorities into representations);

  • section 121 (the preparation of and information to be included in care plans);

• as respects England —

  • section 2(6) (basic definitions), 4(6) and (7) (provision in respect of carrying out of assessments); section 9 to 11 (general powers to regulate adoption and adoption agencies); section 27(3) (circumstances in which the terms of a contact order may be departed from); section 53(1) to (3) (modification of the 1989 Act in relation to adoption); section 54 (amplification of the power in section 9 to enable the disclosure of information during the adoption process); sections 63 (1), (3) and (4) and 65(1), (4) and (5) and 98 (enabling regulations to be made in respect of disclosure of information in relation to a person’s adoption); and

• for the purposes of making regulations—

  • sections 3(3) and (4) and 4(1)(b) and (5) (making provisions in relation to who may provide facilities on behalf of a local authority and the assessments for adoption support services);

  • section 8 which makes amendments to the Care Standards Act 2000 to enable provision for the registration of adoption support agencies under that Act;

  • section 12(1) to (3) which makes provision for the establishment of a review procedure in respect of qualifying determinations made by adoption agencies.

Article 2(1) also brings into force as respects England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, section 63(2) to (5); as respects Scotland section 65(2)(a) and (3); and as respects Northern Ireland section 65(2)(b) and (3) (enables regulations to be made to require adoption agencies to make arrangements to secure the provision of counselling to those seeking information in prescribed circumstances).

Article 2(2) brings into force on 31st January 2005 section 120 of the Act which clarifies the meaning of harm in the Children Act 1989.