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Contents

1. Purpose and Function
2. Membership
3. Meetings
4. Adoption and Permanency Panel Minutes
5. Reports on Adoption Matters

1. Purpose and Function

1.1 Adoption Function

The Adoption and Permanency Panel is responsible for overseeing the running of the local authority’s adoption service and receives annual reports on the service and its performance.

In doing so it has an overriding responsibility to promote good practice, consistency of approach and fairness in all aspects of the adoption service.

Recommendations

As part of this function, the Panel makes recommendations as to the following:

1. The suitability of prospective adoptive applicants as adoptive parents - (this includes the withdrawal of approval following a review of the prospective adopter’s approval)
2. Whether a child should be placed for adoption
3. Whether a child should be placed for adoption with particular prospective adopters

The recommendations must be unconditional and cannot be ‘in principle’.

Timescales:

The Adoption and Permanency Panel makes recommendations on the suitability of a prospective adopter to adopt within eight months of receipt of the formal application.

The Adoption and Permanency Panel makes recommendations on whether a child is suitable to be placed for adoption within two months of the Looked After Review where adoption was identified as the child's identified Permanence Plan.

The Adoption and Permanency Panel makes recommendations on the proposed placement of a child with particular prospective adopters within six months of the Agency Decision Maker's decision that the child is suitable to be placed for adoption.

Where the timescales are not met, the Adoption and Permanency Panel should record the reasons in the panel minutes.

Advice

The Panel may also advise on the following issues:

1. Where prospective adoptive parents are recommended as suitable adoptive   parents, the number of children the adoptive parents may be suitable to adopt, as well as their age range, sex, likely needs and background;
2. Where it is recommended that a child should be placed for adoption, what the contact arrangements for the child should be, the separation of siblings and whether a Placement Order should be applied for;
3. Where it is recommended that a child should be placed with particular   prospective adopters, the proposed adoption support, future contact arrangements and the exercise of Parental Responsibility

Monitoring

The Adoption and Permanency Panel monitors the progress of individual children for whom adoption is the plan up to the making of an Adoption Order, through progress reports as required under the Placement for Adoption Procedure and the Adoption Reviews Procedure, and receives Disruption Reports in relation to any breakdowns in adoptive placements (see Disruption of Adoptive Placements Procedure).

The Adoption and Permanency Panel will also provide feedback to the adoption agency every six months on the quality of reports and whether there is a fair and consistent approach across the service.

In addition to the above, the panel will also receive reports where allegations are made against prospective adopters and will receive information on the outcome of any investigation. (See Complaints, Allegations or Serious Concerns about Standards of Care in Relation to Foster Carers or Members of their Household Procedure).

1.2 Permanency Function

The Adoption and Permanency Panel is also responsible for overseeing Permanence Plans for Looked After children and as part of this function, makes recommendations as to the following where long term fostering is being considered for a Looked After Child:

1. Whether long-term fostering is in the interests of a child
2. Whether particular foster carers are suitably matched as long-term carers  for a particular child. 

The Panel also gives advice in cases where twin track planning is under consideration.

2. Membership

There is no fixed Panel membership or maximum number of members or maximum tenure of office.

A Central List needs to be maintained containing a list of persons considered to be suitable to be members of an Adoption Panel.

When setting up an Adoption and Permanency Panel, members will be drawn from this Central List. The same people do not have to be appointed to every Panel meeting.

The Central List should include (in addition to the Independent Chair):

• Adoption social workers with at least 3 years' relevant post qualifying experience in child care social work, including direct experience in adoption work (not necessarily employed by the agency)
• The Medical Adviser/s
• Other persons whom the agency considers suitable including specialists in education; race and culture; child and adolescent mental health services; and those with personal experience of adoption.

The Chair must be independent of the adoption agency, and is appointed by the Designated Manager (Adoption Panel Appointments).

The Panel must also have one, and may have two, Vice Chairs, who are not necessarily independent of the adoption agency and who are also appointed by the Designated Manager (Adoption and Permanency Panel Appointments).

The Agency Decision Maker on adoption matters must not be included on the Central List.

The agency should decide how many people should sit at each Adoption and Permanency Panel meeting, provided that there is a quorum of 5, one of whom must be the Chair or Vice Chair, one of the adoption social worker representatives and at least 1 independent member (who may be the Chair).

The Panel Adviser, with the help of the Panel Clerk, will select those members of the Central List who are available on the Panel date and who best match any specialist requirements in terms of expertise for the cases on the agenda for that meeting, and will consider asking Panel members who may already know the case from a previous Panel meeting.

2.1 Appointments to the Central List

Those on the Central List are appointed by the agency and will able to continue their membership as long as they are able to carry out their duties.

All those on the Central List should have undergone a recruitment process that includes interviews, identity checks, verification of qualifications and right to work in the UK, references and CRB checks, which are recorded. New appointees will be asked to give signed agreement to checks being undertaken as above and cannot take up their appointment until the outcome of the checks are known.  They are excluded from Panel membership if they have any offences against children or of violence. They are required to notify the Designated Manager (Adoption and Permanency Panel Appointments) immediately if they receive such a conviction or caution while on the Central List.

Personal and work references will also be obtained in writing and must be satisfactory.

They should have the opportunity to observe an Adoption Panel meeting before they sit as a member and to attend an annual joint training day with adoption agency staff; have induction training completed within 10 weeks of inclusion on the list and access to appropriate training and skills development and are kept abreast of changes to legislation, regulation and guidance.

They should also have access to the agency's whistle-blowing policy.

Written information about the expectations arising from their appointment should be given to new members of the Central List (in relation to their performance objectives, participation in induction and other training, attendance at meetings, safeguarding the confidentiality of information provided to the Panel and their general conduct - see Sections 2.2 - 2.4 inclusive) and they should be asked to sign a written agreement confirming their acceptance of these before taking up their appointment to the Central List.

2.2 Confidentiality

All written and verbal information given to Panel members in the course of their duties is strictly confidential.  As indicated above, those on the Central List are required to sign a written agreement, before taking up their appointment, to confirm that all information they receive will remain confidential.

At each meeting, Panel members are expected to keep all written information in a secure place and return all Panel documents to the agency immediately after each Panel meeting.

Panel members must not copy, in part or in whole, any documents that relate to a case.

If a Panel member has some knowledge of a case, whether in a personal or professional capacity, they should declare an interest and inform the Chair of the Panel. This should be done at the earliest opportunity, so that an alternative member of the Central List can be invited to ensure that the Panel is quorate.

Failure to comply with the above paragraphs may result in the member's appointment to the Central List being terminated.

2.3 General Conduct

All those on the Central List should be committed to anti-discriminatory practice and should be prepared to consider each case on its own merits.

Panel members for each meeting should have read the Panel papers carefully, prior to the Panel meeting, and come prepared to contribute to the Panel discussion.

The Panel Adviser will review the performance of those on the Central List on a regular basis.  The Panel Adviser, in consultation with the Chair, will review their performance on a more formal basis at least annually.

If there are concerns about the conduct or behaviour of a person on the Central List, this should be conveyed to the Chair who will raise these concerns with the person in private.

If such concerns cannot be resolved informally, the Chair, in consultation with the Agency Decision-Maker (Adoption), will write to the person concerned setting out the concerns and what action it is proposed to take.

The Chair's performance will be reviewed annually by the Agency Decision-Maker, taking into account the views of those on the Central List and others who attend Panel meetings, for example social workers and prospective adopters.

2.4 Conflicts of Interest

At each meeting, Panel members should consider any conflicts of interest in relation to Panel agenda items. A potential conflict arises if an interest may be seen to adversely affect a Panel member's capacity to act without prejudice or preference in a matter.

It is anticipated that in many circumstances there may be professional knowledge of a case which should be notified to the Chair but which will not affect a member's capacity to participate in the Panel. In other circumstances there may be a personal interest or connection which would require the Panel member to refrain from participation. It may be less clear in some cases when advice should be sought.

In the case of a potential conflict of interest where advice is required, Panel members should consult the Chair, Panel Adviser or Legal Adviser, giving as much advance notice as possible particularly having regard to the implications for the quorum and providing sufficient time for an alternative member from the Central List to be invited to attend the meeting.

2.5 Resignations from the Central List

All those on the Central List are expected to give a minimum of one month's written notice of their wish to resign, except where personal emergencies e.g. accidents, illness, make this impossible. Resignation letters should be addressed to the Designated Manager (Adoption and Permanency Panel Appointments), with a copy to the Chair of the Panel.

Initial verbal resignations may be given, but should always be followed by a written resignation.  Those on the Central List are asked, as a matter of courtesy, to inform the Chair of the Panel of their intention to resign, before making any public announcement.

Those on the Central List are expected not to temporarily withdraw their services, because of disputes/disagreements over Panel practice or policy.  Any person on the Central List taking such action will be deemed to have to have formally resigned with immediate effect, even if no written resignation has been received.

Those on the Central List wishing to withdraw a submitted written resignation must do so before the one month notice period expires by writing to the Designated Manager (Adoption and Permanency Panel Appointments), who reserves the right not to accept a withdrawal of notice and to allow the original letter of resignation to stand.

2.6 Termination of Appointment of to the Central List

Where it is considered that someone is unsuitable to be on the Central List, they must be given one month's notice in writing and reasons for the decision to end their appointment.

Where there are concerns about the behaviour of a person on the Central List either inside or outside the meetings, and attempts to resolve the difficulties have not been resolved by discussion between the Chair and the person concerned, the matter will raised by the Chair with the Designated Manager (Adoption and Permanency Panel Appointments).

The Designated Manager will decide whether to propose the end of the appointment and if so, will advise the person concerned in writing giving clear reasons for the proposal.

The person concerned will be given the opportunity to make observations on the matter before a final decision is made by the Designated Manager (Adoption and Permanency Panel Appointments).

3. Meetings

There are 3 Adoption and Permanency Panels for the county.  Each Panel meets monthly on Thursdays in a County Council office in Oxfordshire.  Additional Panel meetings may be arranged where required, for example where the Court timetable requires it.

The Panel Administrator will prepare and circulate an annual list of Panel dates and deadlines each summer for the following year.  The Panel Administrator, with the Chair’s authority, will arrange additional special meetings as necessary.

The Panel Administrator must arrange for the Medical Adviser to attend all meetings of the Panel, and for the Legal Adviser to attend where the Panel will be considering whether to recommend that a child is suitable for adoption and in other cases, wherever the Panel Adviser and/or Chair considers it necessary. 

The Panel Administrator may also arrange for observers to attend meetings, in consultation with the Chair, but no more than 2 observers may attend at any one time.

All Panel meetings will be attended by the Panel Adviser, who must be someone with experience as an adoption team manager or have more senior management experience, with at least 5 years relevant post qualification experience in adoption.

The Panel Adviser attends all Panel meetings to advise the Panel but is not a member of the Panel.  His or her role at the meeting is to ensure all the necessary reports are available for the Panel, to advise Panel on social work and procedural matters and to report to social workers and their managers on issues arising from Panel meetings.

Where the Panel is considering a matter relating to an inter-country adoption, the Panel Adviser must arrange to provide specialist advice and any relevant information required.

The Panel Adviser's role is also to assist with appointments to the Central List, to arrange induction and other training for members of the Central List, to monitor and review their performance and to monitor and review the administration of the Panel.

For each meeting, the Panel Administrator, in consultation with the Chair and the Panel Adviser, will prepare the agenda, arrange invitations to Panel members drawn from the Central List and send out the agenda to the identified Panel members at least five working days before the meeting. The agenda will include at the beginning an opportunity for any Panel member to declare an interest in any item on the agenda.

Those presenting reports to the Panel must send one copy of each report to the Panel Administrator 14 days before the date of the Panel meeting.  (The Panel’s requirements as to reports are specified in the relevant procedures elsewhere in the Manual).  The Panel Administrator will arrange for the documentation to be distributed to Panel members.

At the Panel meetings, members must declare where they know a person under consideration in a personal or professional capacity, in which case they should not participate in consideration of the relevant agenda item.  If an interest is declared, the Chair must then decide whether the Panel member should withdraw during consideration of the item.

The Children's Guardian will be invited to attend Panel when a child's plan for adoption is being considered.

The Chair’s role is to ensure that all members participate fully in the meetings (unless an interest has been declared), that sensitive regard is paid to applicants attending the Panel while keeping the child’s welfare paramount, that consensus is achieved wherever possible and that the Panel has clear reasons for its recommendations.

In the event of a disagreement between Panel members, the Chair will consider whether further information is required or whether the Panel should go ahead and make a recommendation on the basis of the majority view.  In this event, any dissenting view should be fully recorded in the minutes.

At the end of meetings, the Panel Administrator will collect all reports and agenda from members.  Panel members unable to attend a meeting will be asked to return his or her papers to the Panel administrator. 

The Panel Administrator will prepare the minutes in which reasons for recommendations and any disagreements or dissent will be fully recorded - see Section 4, Adoption and Permanency Panel Minutes.

S/he will send the draft minutes to the Chair and the social workers who attended Panel in each case for approval of their accuracy, and then submit them, together with the reports considered by the Panel, to the Agency Decision Maker (Adoption) for approval of the recommendations made, so that the Agency Decision-Maker can meet the timescales for making the decision as set out in the relevant procedures.

The Panel Administrator will also ensure that applicants, adoptive applicants and social workers are notified in writing of Panel decisions within five working days and provide social workers with a copy of the relevant minutes.

4. Adoption and Permanency Panel Minutes

The Panel minutes will always record the information in relation to the following:

1. The reports received.  (The Panel’s requirements as to reports are specified in the relevant procedures elsewhere in the Manual).
2. Who attended and for which part of the discussion
3. Medical advice
4. Legal advice
5. The Panel’s discussions (main points), including questions asked and answers given, and conclusions
6. The Panel’s recommendations and reasons, including any reservations expressed by any member.

The Panel minutes will be written in accordance with the format agreed from time to time and kept on every child’s and/or prospective adopter’s Adoption Case File. 

The Panel minutes will be approved by the Chair and sent to the Agency Decision-Maker (Adoption), together with the reports considered by the Panel when the recommendation was made, so that the Agency Decision-Maker can meet the timescales for making the decision as set out in the relevant procedures. This will normally be within 7 working days but could be shorter should the Court timetable require it.

5. Reports on Adoption Matters

Reports to the Adoption and Permanency Panel in relation to adoption matters upon which the Panel are asked to make recommendations must be prepared by qualified social workers with at least 3 years post-qualification experience.  This must include direct experience of adoption work either in assessing a prospective adopter or as the social worker to a child with an adoption plan from the planning stage to the placement, monitoring and review stages.  Where the author of the report does not have the requisite qualifications and experience, he or she must have either a qualification in social work or a social worker in training and supervised by a qualified social worker with 3 years’ relevant experience. 

Where the person preparing the report is an independent social worker, they must always be suitably qualified and experienced and supervised by a member of staff with the suitable qualifications and experience.

The same qualifications and experience are required for social workers undertaking visits of children placed for adoption - see Monitoring and Supervision of Adoptive Placements Procedure.

End