- adoption panel
means a panel established in accordance with regulation 3;
- adoption placement plan
has the meaning given in regulation 35(2);
- adoption placement report
means the report prepared by the adoption agency in accordance with regulation 31(2)(d);
- adoption support services
has the meaning given in section 2(6)(a) of the Act and in any regulations made under section 2(6)(b) of the Act;
- adoptive family
has the meaning given in regulation 31(2)(a);
- approved foster parent
means a person who is approved as a foster parent in accordance with the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 but does not include a person with whom a child is placed under regulation 24 or 25A of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010.
- CAFCASS
means the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service;
- independent review panel
means a panel constituted under section 12 of the Act;
- joint adoption panel
means an adoption panel established in accordance with regulation 3(5);
- medical adviser
means the person appointed as the medical adviser by the adoption agency in accordance with regulation 9(1);
- offence against a child
has the meaning given to it by section 26(1) of the Criminal Justice and Courts Services Act 2000 except that it does not include an offence contrary to section 9 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sexual activity with a child) in a case where the offender was under the age of 20 and the child was 13 or over at the time the offence was committed.
- parent
includes the father of the child whether or not he has parental responsibility for the child.
- placed
means placed in accordance with section 22C of the 1989 Act with a local authority foster parent who is also an approved prospective adopter following consideration in accordance with section 22C(9B)(c) of that Act.
- preparation for adoption
has the meaning given in regulation 24;
- proposed placement
has the meaning given in regulation 31(1);
- prospective adopter assessment plan
has the meaning given in regulation 29;
- prospective adopter matching plan
has the meaning given in regulation 30H;
- prospective adopter stage one plan
has the meaning given in regulation 22;
- qualifying determination
has the meaning given in regulation 30B(5)(a);
- registration authority
means Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills;
- relevant foreign authority
means a person, outside the British Islands performing functions in the country in which the child is, or in which the prospective adopter is, habitually resident which correspond to the functions of an adoption agency or to the functions of the Secretary of State in respect of adoptions with a foreign element;
- relevant post-qualifying experience
means post-qualifying experience in child care social work including direct experience in adoption work;
- section 83 case
means a case where a person who is habitually resident in the British Islands intends to bring, or to cause another to bring, a child into the United Kingdom in circumstances where section 83 of the Act (restriction on bringing children into the United Kingdom) applies;
- social worker
means a person who is registered as a social worker in the register of social workers in England maintained under section 39(1) of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, in the register maintained bySocial Care Wales under section 80 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 or in a corresponding register maintained under the law of Scotland or Northern Ireland;
- specified offence
means— and the expression “offence against a child” has the meaning given to it by section 26(1) of the Criminal Justice and Courts Services Act 2000 except that it does not include an offence contrary to section 9 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (sexual activity with a child) in a case where the offender was under the age of 20 and the child was 13 or over at the time the offence was committed.
- the 1989 Act
means the Children Act 1989;
- the 1989 Regulations
means the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006;
- the Act
means the Adoption and Children Act 2002;
- vice chair
has the meaning given in regulation 3(4) or, as the case may be, (5)(c);
- working day
means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday within the meaning of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971.