Martin Narey, the Government’s new ‘adoption czar’ and former chief executive of Barnardo’s, has produced a key report highlighting the need for urgent reforms to the adoption process in Britain.
The report, conducted exclusively for The Times, describes the adoption procedure as “hopelessly slow” and emphasises that “delays” in the system had resulted in a decrease in the number of successful adoptions.
As a result, many children are being forced to stay with abusive or negligent parents for lengthy periods of time before being placed in permanent homes.
In order to address these issues effectively, Mr Narey made a number of proposals for reform, including the suggestion that pregnant women or girls who are unlikely to provide the necessary care for a child should be given a 'third option' of giving their child up for adoption rather than having an abortion or trying to raise the child themselves.
This week, Mr Narey was appointed asthe Coalition Government’s new ministerial adviser on adoption, which has significantly increased the chances of the reforms being implemented in practice. It is reported that the Prime Minister is “very enthusiastic” about the new appointment.
The report comes at a time when Catholic adoption agencies across Britain have been forced to close down for refusing to place children in the care of homosexual couples.
A devout Christian couple, Owen and Eunice Johns, were also deprived of an opportunity to foster after stating they would not promote homosexuality to a child in their care.
Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said:
“Martin Narey has done a great job in highlighting the deficiencies of the adoption system in Britain.
“However, due to over-zealous application of current equality legislation by some local authorities, many Christian couples are barred from adopting and providing foster care.
“With adoptions in Britain reaching a record low, it is high time that equality legislation was revised to provide room for freedom of conscience.”
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