Reform to the island’s adoption laws has moved a step closer.

The House of Keys has granted a second reading to the Adoption Bill - meaning the principles of the Bill are accepted.

It will the change the focus of current law to ensure the needs of the child are always at the forefront. The Bill should also speed up the adoption process itself and make it easier for birth relatives to contact each other.

Health Minister David Ashford told MHKs: ’Reform of this legislation is long overdue. The Bill places the child at the centre of the decision-making process.’

The lifelong consequences of an adoption will have to be factored into that process.

Mr Ashford said the Bill would improve the adoption service for the benefit of vulnerable children being placed for adoption both on and off-island.

The current legislation was approved in 1984, when those being placed for adoption were predominantly babies and young children, the minister said.

’Over the intervening years the face of adoption has changed radically and considerably. There are very few babies relinquished for adoption voluntarily and most adoptions now take place with young children already in the care system, many of whom have experienced some degree of trauma in their early years.’

A key component of the Bill will be to reduce delays in the adoption process itself.

’One way to do this is the introduction of placement orders,’ said Mr Ashford. ’This means that children can be placed for adoption at any earlier stage in the process than under the Adoption Act 1984.’

The new legislation will pave the way for the introduction of an adoption contact register in the island, enabling an adopted person and any birth relatives to contact each other should they wish to do so.

It will also create the power to form a review panel for when a child is placed on-island by an off-island adoption agency, allowing such a panel to ensure adequate support is provided for all parties.

The Bill seeks to amend the Children and Young Persons Act to allow parental responsibility to be granted to step parents. Responding to concerns about timescales in care proceedings, Mr Ashford said: ’Care proceedings are dealt with under the Children and Young Persons Act 2001 and I can confirm that the review of the CYP Act 2001 is very much on the department’s legislative programme.

’The Adoption Bill is the first part in the reform of children’s legislation. The CYP Act in 2001 is the second part.’

The amendments to do that CYP Act will also include after-care and review of children’s placements. But to include those changes within the Adoption Bill would have delayed it.

The second reading was granted without opposition from any MHK. The Bill will undergo detailed scrutiny at the clauses stage.