UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Lord Elystan-Morgan Excerpts

Thursday 22nd March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

The Government are working to ensure that children can be educated in an orderly way in all schools. As for making sure that they are safe from violence in those settings, the noble Baroness will know that we are keen to do that in a number of ways. We are taking new measures on behaviour, and guidance on them is going to schools. All schools will want to make sure that they deliver on that commitment.

[Lord Elystan-Morgan]

My Lords, on the Government’s intentions in relation to adoption and accelerating adoption, will the Minister confirm that, however laudable that objective might be, adoption should always be confined to cases where it is in the best interests of the child, taking into account the child’s anticipated life, and should never be regarded as a soft option for a local authority, which might otherwise be saddled with a care order for very many years?

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

I am sure all noble Lords would agree that we want to make sure that adoption processes are delivered in the best interests of the child. As the noble Lord says, the Government are keen to try to accelerate the process because we know that the average length of time it takes for a child to be placed in adoption is more than two and a half years. If it is the right thing for a child, we are very keen that that process should happen as quickly as possible in a sensible way, and to try to address the great disparity in practice between different local authority areas.