The Disclosure of Adoption Information (Post-Commencement Adoptions) Regulations 2005

PART 5 COUNSELLING

Information about the availability of counselling

16.—(1) An adoption agency must provide written information about the availability of counselling to any person—

(a) who is seeking information under section 60, 61 or 62 of the Act;

(b) whose views have been sought as to the disclosure of information about him under section 61(3) or 62(3) or (4) of the Act;

(c) who enters into, or is considering entering into, an agreement with the agency under regulation 11.

(2) The information provided under paragraph (1) must include information about the fees that may be charged by persons providing counselling.

Duty to secure counselling

17.—(1) Where a person mentioned in regulation 16(1) requests that counselling be provided for him, the adoption agency must make arrangements to secure counselling for that person.

(2) The adoption agency may provide the counselling itself or make arrangements with any of the following persons for provision of counselling—

(a) if the person is in England or Wales, another adoption agency or a registered adoption support agency;

(b) if the person is in Scotland, a Scottish adoption agency;

(c) if the person is in Northern Ireland, an adoption society which is registered under Article 4 of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987(1) or any Board; or

(d) if the person is outside the United Kingdom, any person or body outside the United Kingdom who appears to the agency to correspond in its functions to a body mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c).

(3) In this regulation “Board” means a Health and Social Services Board established under Article 16 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972(2) or, where the functions of a Board are exercisable by a Health and Social Services Trust, that Trust.

Disclosure of information for the purposes of counselling

18.—(1) An adoption agency may disclose any information (which may include protected information) which is required for the purposes of providing counselling to any person with whom it has made arrangements to provide counselling.

(2) An adoption agency must make a written record of any disclosure made by virtue of this regulation.

(1)

S.I. 1987/2203 (N.I. 22)

(2)

S.I. 1972/1265 (N.I. 14).