Case No. UKUT-00197-(IAC)

34. A major plank of the submissions made by Ms Cronin is the weight to be attached to the assessment provided by the approved and accredited United Kingdom adoption agency which is the cornerstone of the Secretary of State’s Certificate of Eligibility. The report itself (the BAAF Home Study report) was and remains confidential to the adoption proceedings. It was not , and will not , be made available to the Tribunal. However, its positive conclusion resulted in the DfE’s Certificate of Eligibility. More importantly, as the report is directed towards an assessment of the suitability of the sponsor to adopt the appellant, weight has to be given to the inference that the proposed adopter is suitable. This will be a factor in the consideration of whether adoption is in the child’s best interests. 35. It is for this reason that the process of checks and requirements merits consideration. We have set out the relevant provisions in the Adoptions with a Foreign Element Regulations 2005/392, as an annex to this determination. It is only necessary to provide a brief summary of their contents. Pursuant to reg. 4, prior to the child’s entry into the United Kingdom, the prospective adopter must , before visiting the child in her country of origin, notify the adoption agency of the details of the child to be adopted; visit the child; provide the adoption agency with any information and reports received from the relevant country of origin, both before and after, the visit; have discussions with the adoption agency and must accompany the child on entering the United Kingdom. It is easy to see why these steps are deemed necessary. These are requirements imposed upon the prospective adopter. 36. There are also requirements imposed upon the adoption agency , including the writing of the report. These are found in the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005/389 (as amended) which are also reproduced in the Appendix. The agency must also obtain a written report from a registered medical practitioner about the health of the prospective adopter, obtain written reports of each of the statutory interviews with persons nominated by the prospective adopter to provide personal references, contact the local authority for information about the prospective adopter which may be relevant to his suitability and, if the agency considers it necessary, obtain personal references from the prospective adopter’s former spouse, civil partner or partner. 37. The agency’s writ ten plan, written in consultation with the prospective adopter, must map out the procedure for assessing the prospective adopter’s suitability. The detailed contents of the report are set out in reg. 30. This material is then conveyed to the adoption panel whose function is to make a recommendation to the agency as to whether the prospective adopter is suitable to adopt a child. In considering what recommendation to make, the adoption panel may request additional relevant information from the adoption agency and obtain legal advice. Before making any recommendation, the adoption panel must invite the prospective adopter to attend a meeting of the panel. There is scope for the prospective adopter to apply to the Secretary of State for a review by an independent review panel. 38. Once this procedure has been followed, and the adoption agency has received the panel’s recommendation that a prospective adopter is suitable, the material is then sent to the Secretary of State including the record of the proceedings of the adoption panel, its recommendation and the reasons for its recommendation and, where there h as been a review, the relevant material generated by that review. 39. There are also provisions within the regulations imposing a requirement to provide counselling, information and suitable preparation for the adoption. The preparation includes the provision of information to the prospective adopter about a range of material considerations and skills which are necessary for an adoptive parent. 40. In Scotland, the Adoption Recognition of Overseas Adoptions (Scotland) Regulations 2013 and the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007 provide that , if approved by the adoption agency , the application and supporting documents are passed to the Scottish government’s Intercountry Adoption (ICA) team which checks that the material complies with the relevant United Kingdom , Scottish and adoptee ’ s home country legislation. The application will then be sent to an independent social worker to ensure that the ‘Home Study’ assessment has been carried out properly. Once the application is deemed complete and all supporting documents are in place, the ICA team, acting on behalf of Scottish ministers, attaches a Certificate of Eligibility to the prospective adopters. 41. This summary of the detailed regulations imposed upon the prospective adopters, the accredited adoption agency, the adoption panel and those involved in preparing the case for the Certificate of Eligibility demonstrate the nature and scope of the enquiries made and the decision-making process of the adoption agency. The Certificate of Eligibility must be seen as the definitive outcome of that process which exceeds the ability of either the Home Office or the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal to form its own judgement upon the matters which are the subject matter of the report from the adoption agency and the Certificate of Eligibility.