Health Minister, Jacqui Smith has issued for consultation new national minimum standards and regulations for adoption services.

The standards and regulations will help ensure consistency in adoption services provided by local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies across the country. The standards and regulations in respect of voluntary adoption agencies are being issued jointly with the National Assembly for Wales.

Jacqui Smith, said:

"In advance of the Adoption and Children Bill, these regulations and minimum standards represent an important step in the Government's efforts to ensure that children, birth parents and prospective adopters have access to an adoption service that is timely, fair and consistent, wherever they live.

"Children only get one chance to grow up, and growing up in a stable, loving family provides the best opportunity for young people to thrive and develop. We are committed to modernising the adoption process to help transform the lives of hundreds of children."

For the first time, these standards and regulations will ensure that local authority adoption services are delivered to the same standards that are applied to voluntary adoption agencies.

Since the implementation of the Adoption Act 1976, it has been an offence to make arrangements for adoption in England and Wales without being approved as a voluntary adoption agency by the Secretary of State for Health.

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