This statutory guidance explains the content of the different sets of regulations made under the Adoption and Children Act 2002, and the duties and responsibilities that they place on adoption agencies. It applies to adoption in England only and should be read by everyone involved in the adoption of children - especially children's social workers - and those who work with adopted adults and birth families. The additional requirements of the Adoptions with a Foreign Element Regulations 2005 continue to apply.
New guidance is coming into effect on 1 July 2013 to support the amendments to the Adoption Agencies Regulations which come into force on that date. The main change is to the adopter approval process covered in chapter 3. To help agencies to become familiar with the new processes in preparation for 1 July, a new Chapter 3 is available via the link on the left of this page. Please note this new guidance applies only from 1 July 2013. The current guidance, which remains live until 30 June 2013, remains available.
The downloadable version of the guidance, found to the right of this page, contains current guidance. This will be updated with the new guidance shortly, and this note will be updated when that happens. It will also include amendments relating to the adoption register, resulting from the amendments to the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005.
This guidance is issued under section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, requiring local authorities in their social services functions to act under the general guidance of the Secretary of State. As such, the document does not have the full force of statute, but should be complied with unless local circumstances indicate exceptional reasons which justify a variation.
Details of amendments to the statutory guidance can be found in Amendments to the statutory guidance, which can be downloaded from the downloads section on the right (please note this does not include the amendments coming into effect on 1 July 2013).
You can navigate through the statutory guidance using the menu on the left-hand side of the page. Alternatively, you can download it from this page (this does not contain the amended chapter 3).
