Michael Fabricant is joining with Caroline Spelman (the Member of Parliament for Meriden) to co-sponsor a Bill which will reverse the decline in the number of adoptions in this country.

Michael Fabricant says "We must reverse a situation in which the number of children adopted is a quarter of what it was twenty years ago. Many children remain in care despite the fact that there are large numbers of prospective
parents who are crying out to give them a loving home and family.

"Many suitable couples fall foul of political correctness in adoption criteria and standards vary from one part of the country to another. Naturally, proper checks should be in place, but these should be clear and free from political dogma. They should also be set nationally to avoid variations. More parents should be able to adopt and give many more children the chance to have a loving and secure family environment in which to grow up. To tackle the problems, a national register of prospective adoptive parents and national criteria for their eligibility could be drawn
up."

The chance to introduce this Bill arises from Caroline Spelman’s winning the ballot for the opportunity to introduce a Private Members’ Bill. She says "Both main parties have signalled their commitment to adoption reform and I
want to take this opportunity to give children back their right to a loving family. I shall draft a bill on adoption after it was decided there was no time for this in the Queen’s Speech. Earlier in the year, the Prime Minister announced that he wanted adoption laws to be reformed. As a result, I believe we have a fair wind from the government on this legislation and an historic opportunity to end the postcode lottery of adoption services across the country."