Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care bringing forward proposals to exempt prospective adoptive parents from fees for medical checks.

The adopter approval process is free for prospective adopters so that they are not charged by adoption agencies for their preparation and assessment. However, the adoption agency must obtain a written report from a registered medical practitioner about the health of the prospective adopter following a full examination. There is often a charge payable to a GP for completion of this report that an adoption agency can cover should it choose.

The Department of Health and Social Care currently has no plans to make changes to the fees that GPs charge prospective adopters for medical checks. Any changes to the charges by GPs would need to be negotiated between NHS England and the General Practitioner Committee of the British Medical Association as part of the annual contract negotiations.