delete The Adoption and Children Act 2002 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2005
This Order makes consequential amendments to various secondary legislation to reflect the Adoption and Children Act 2002. It updates cross-references in: the Data Protection (Miscellaneous Subject Access Exemptions) Order 2000 and Data Protection (Subject Access Modification) (Social Work) Order 2000 (adding adoption record exemptions and Section 12 independent review data processing); the Community Legal Service (Funding) Order 2000 and related regulations (adding the 2002 Act to 'family proceedings' definitions); the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987 (adding adoption-related parties to definition of 'family'); the NHS Bodies and Local Authorities Partnership Arrangements Regulations 2000; and the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults and Care Standards Tribunal Regulations 2002.
This Order merely performs technical cross-reference updates to incorporate the Adoption and Children Act 2002 into existing secondary legislation. While it technical updates references, it perpetuates a system of adoption regulation that: restricts private ordering by requiring mandatory use of approved adoption agencies; imposes bureaucratic compliance costs on agencies and courts; and creates artificial supply constraints in the adoption market through restrictive licensing. The exemptions from subject access rights under data protection legislation limit adopted individuals' ability to access their own records, treating them differently from other citizens. A dynamic free-trading Britain should allow greater flexibility in how families are formed and how adoption information is managed between consenting parties, rather than maintaining a state-dominated adoption system with extensive regulatory oversight.