My Lords, before I respond to the important points that have been raised, I should like to explain government Amendment 20, which will ensure that the first set of regulations made in relation to personal budgets are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, for her welcome of this.
We tabled this amendment after listening carefully to the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, and we are very grateful to the committee for its consideration of this matter. It recommended that the affirmative procedure should be used the first time the power in Clause 4 is used. We agree, which is why we have tabled this amendment.
I take seriously the point made by my noble friend Lady Hamwee and the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, about learning from the pilots. Indeed, these pilots will inform the way the regulations are drawn up.
I turn to Amendment 270, tabled by the noble Baronesses, Lady Hughes and Lady Jones. I welcome the fact that the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, feels reassured by what we have put forward.
I should now like to speak to Amendment 18, tabled by my noble friends Lady Hamwee and Lady Walmsley. Local authorities are under a duty to carry out an assessment of a person’s needs for adoption support once it has been requested. A request for an assessment can be made at any time. I hope that that reassures my noble friend Lady Hamwee.
The right to a personal budget is a consequence of the local authority’s decision to provide a person with adoption support, following an assessment of need. Clause 4 as drafted therefore enables those persons being provided with adoption support to request a personal budget at any time after the local authority’s decision to provide support. My noble friend is right to point out that support might be needed at a later point, and this follows from that kind of procedure.
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I turn to Amendment 19, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones. We agree that voluntary adoption agencies play an important role in providing high-quality support to adoptive families. I clarify for the noble Baroness that the law is already clear about who can provide adoption support services. This will apply to personal budgets and to where adoptive parents will be able to purchase services from. These are adoption agencies and adoption support agencies. As the noble Baroness will know, an adoption agency is a local authority or a voluntary adoption agency. An individual can also provide adoption support services if they are under contract with a registered adoption support agency, an adoption agency, a local health board or a primary care trust. I hope that that reassures her in terms of quality.
The Adoption Support Fund announced on 11 September will help voluntary adoption agencies to provide more adoption support. This extra funding should give both local authorities and adopters a sense of security that these important services will be provided. It will also help the market to grow, enabling more voluntary adoption agencies to deliver these specialist interventions to some of our most vulnerable children, as my noble friend Lord Nash referred to just now. We will also be giving adoptive parents the choice to use their personal budget to secure support from the agencies that the law already allows to provide such services. I hope that that is reassuring to my noble friend Lady Hamwee.
In relation to amendments on adoption support, I therefore hope that noble Lords will accept the government amendment, and I am encouraged by indications thus far. I hope that the noble Baroness will be happy to withdraw her amendment.