A consultation on the proposals to speed up the adoption and fostering process was launched yesterday.
The changes, which will come into force next year, mean that foster parents will no longer have to call a social worker before taking a child for a haircut or arranging a sleepover at a friend’s house.
Adopters and foster carers who have already been approved will no longer have to have a criminal records check if they want to adopt through the fast track process, unless agencies insist on it.
Mr Timpson, whose parents fostered more than 80 children and who has two younger brothers who were adopted, said, ‘I know from my own family that adopting and fostering can transform young lives for the better. I want more children in care to have the opportunity of a stable, loving environment where they can reach their full potential, whatever their start in life.
‘Sadly I have come across too many potential adopters who have given up, frustrated by the system and foster carers exasperated by the bureaucracy required for every day tasks.
‘I want the process to be as hassle-free as possible. Vital safeguards will remain, but no-one benefits from pointless paperwork. By cutting back the rules that only hinder I hope that more and more people will come forward to become adopters and fosterers to enrich their own life, as well as the lives of the many children who deserve a decent childhood.’
The Government is providing £8m in funding to support adoption services to implement the programme to reform adoption, which includes the fostering for adoption scheme announced earlier this year.
This will enable children in foster care to be placed with potential adoptive parents from the outset, while the local authority seeks a placement order from the courts.
Both the British Association for Adoption and Fostering and the Fostering Network welcome the plans.
