Office of Public Sector Information
17. An application to the Secretary of State for a review of a qualifying determination must be made by the applicant in writing and include the grounds of the application.
18. Upon receipt of an application which has been made in accordance with regulation 17, the Secretary of State shall—
(a) notify the organisation which made the qualifying determination that the application has been made by sending to the organisation a copy of the application;
(b) send a written acknowledgment of the application to the applicant and notify him of the steps taken under sub-paragraph (a);
(c) fix a date, time and venue for the panel constituted in accordance with regulation 6, 7 or 8 to meet for the purposes of reviewing the qualifying determination (“review meeting”);
(d) after taking the steps set out in sub-paragraph (c), inform in writing the applicant and the organisation which made the qualifying determination of—
(i) the appointment of the panel; and
(ii) the date, time and venue of the review meeting; and
(e) inform the applicant in writing that the applicant may, if the applicant wishes, provide to the panel further details of the grounds of the application in writing in the period up to three weeks before the review meeting and orally at the review meeting.
19. The organisation which made the qualifying determination shall provide, as far as is reasonably practicable, any information or assistance requested by the panel under regulation 11(5)(b), 12(3)(b) or 13(3)(b), as the case may be.
20.—(1) The panel’s recommendation may be that of the majority.
(2) The recommendation and the reasons for it and whether it was unanimous or that of a majority must be recorded without delay in a document signed and dated by the chair.
(3) The panel must without delay send a copy of the recommendation and the reasons for it to the applicant and to the organisation which made the qualifying determination.
21. The organisation which made the qualifying determination must pay to the Secretary of State such costs in connection with the review of that qualifying determination as the Secretary of State considers reasonable.
22.—(1) The Independent Review of Determinations (Adoption) Regulations 2005(10) are revoked.
(2) Anything done for the purposes of or in connection with a provision of the Independent Review of Determinations (Adoption) Regulations 2005 shall be treated as if it were done for the purposes of or in connection with the corresponding provision of these Regulations.
Delyth Morgan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for Children, School and Families
27th February 2009
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations are made under the Children Act 1989 (“the 1989 Act”) and the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”). They apply in relation to England only. They make provision for the review of a qualifying determination by an independent panel appointed by the Secretary of State. The types of qualifying determination are:
(a) a determination made by an adoption agency under the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/389) that it proposes not to approve a prospective adopter as suitable to adopt a child. Such a determination is specified in regulation 3 of these Regulations as a qualifying determination for the purposes of section 12(2) of the 2002 Act;
(b) a determination made by an adoption agency under the Disclosure of Adoption Information (Post-Commencement Adoptions) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/888). Such a determination is specified in regulation 15(1) of those Regulations as a qualifying determination for the purposes of section 12(2) of the 2002 Act; and
(c) a determination made by a fostering service provider in accordance with the Fostering Services Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/57) that it proposes not to approve a person as suitable to act as a foster parent, or that it proposes to terminate, or to revise the terms of approval of, a person as suitable to act as a foster parent. Such determinations are specified in regulation 4 of these Regulations as qualifying determinations for the purposes of paragraph 12A(2) of Schedule 2 to the 1989 Act.
Part 2 makes provision for the constitution and membership of panels, their functions, the payment of fees to panel members, meetings, and record keeping of the panels.
Part 3 makes provision for the procedure to be followed when a review of a qualifying determination by a panel constituted under Part 2 is sought. Regulation 21 provides that the organisation must pay costs in connection with the review.
Part 4 revokes the Independent Review of Determinations (Adoption) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/3332) and makes transitional provision.
S.I. 2005/3332. Back [10]
The Independent Review of Determinations (Adoption and Fostering) Regulations 2009