My Lords, this amendment was previously in the name of my noble friend Lady Armstrong. Understandably, she is very much engaged in giving responses to the Chilcot commission today, so I move this on her behalf.
My understanding is that Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 provides the machinery by which a child can be received into the care of a local authority with the consent of a parent. However, parents do not have the right to free legal advice and representation prior to agreeing to the voluntary accommodation of their child unless the local authority has initiated or is planning care proceedings. It has been put to my noble friend that, without such independent legal advice, there is concern as to whether parents actually are giving informed consent. Obviously, this is particularly worrying in respect of younger parents who have lost their children to the care system and may lack other established sources of support, including advice. Our debate on Monday, particularly about children who have been in care who themselves are young parents, is particularly apposite to that issue.
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Provisions in the Children and Families Act 2014 mean that children who are looked after either under a care order or under Section 20 with the voluntary agreement of their parents can be placed with potential adopters who are proven foster carers. This is known as foster for adoption. Children who are looked after under Section 20 may be placed in a foster for adoption
placement without the parents or their family network having had a right to independent legal advice. If there have been no proceedings, there will have been no court oversight of the process, nor any court decision that the child should be permanently removed from their parents. Once the child is living with the potential adopter, it is much harder for the parents or the wider family to get the child into their care because of the status quo argument which, understandably, aims to minimise disruption for the child.
A freedom of information survey of English local authorities in summer 2015 found at that stage that at least 58 voluntarily accommodated children had been placed with a potential adopter in a foster for adoption placement. In that situation parents who, on any definition, will be vulnerable, may not be receiving legal advice because they are not eligible for legal aid provision and often would need legal aid to be able to obtain legal advice. I hope the Minister will see the strength of this argument and can respond in a positive way. I beg to move.