Robin Swann
North Antrim · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for his detailed statement. I know how passionate he is about the subject and how many times he has brought it to the Executive.”
“It has been reported that today will potentially be the warmest day of the year. As we move into the summer and our summer holidays, I want to raise public awareness of wildfires across Northern Ireland, which have been detrimental to farmland and our environment over the past number of years.”
“Wildfires are still having a detrimental impact on our environment and, occasionally, on livestock, but that reduction shows the impact of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service's proactive approach to educating the general public and engaging with rural communities and schools on its fire safety message, which is to stay alert, not…”
“There has been a lot of talk of sport in this place over the past few days, with everybody concentrating on UEFA. One sport that is going on across Northern Ireland at the minute is cross-community and goes across all age groups without fear, favour or distinction: pigeon racing.”
“I want to put on record that, since this place passed the amendment that recognised pigeon racing as a sport under the 2016 Act, over the past five years, pigeon racing clubs across Northern Ireland have been able to obtain £113,000 of rates rebates through the sports and recreation rate relief, allowing many of those clubs to continue ra…”
“There was much coverage on social media over the weekend of an incident in Staines in England, in which a police car rammed a young calf to bring it under control. It has restarted the conversation about animal cruelty. <BR /> <BR />I am dealing with a specific case in my constituency.”
The complete record
Every one of 5,640 lines we hold for Robin Swann, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 38 of 113.
“Currently, a residence order, which is an order stipulating with whom a child should live, is granted until the age of 16, unless there are exceptional circumstances in which to extend it to the age of 18. The Bill will provide that residence orders made in respect of a looked-after child will automatically be extended to the age of 18, unless a court determines otherwise. The Bill will also amend the period for which a child has to have lived with a foster carer from three years to one year before the foster carer can apply for a residence order in respect of the child. That amendment will ensure consistency with the residence requirements for adoption and special guardianship orders (SGOs). That reinforces the point that there are different routes to permanence for individual children.”
“That advice or support may continue beyond the age of 25 if a trust considers that it is needed. Young people receiving support, advice or assistance will have a personal adviser and a pathway plan, replicating arrangements that are currently in place. It is vital that young people be aware of the support that they are entitled to when leaving, and the Bill will place a duty on trusts to publish information on the services that they offer for care leavers in preparation for adulthood and independent living. That will be known as the "local offer for care leavers". <BR /> <BR />The Bill will also introduce some new court orders and make adjustments to existing court orders.”
“<BR /> <BR />Most young people are supported emotionally and financially on the road to university, and, as they make the journey out of the family home for the first time, looked-after children likewise should continue to be supported as they take those steps into adulthood. Provisions in the Bill enhance the support provided to care leavers. The Bill will recognise in law the Going the Extra Mile scheme that enables care leavers to continue living with their former foster parents up to the age of 21. Support provided to care leavers who are in education or training will be extended to the age of 25. Care leavers aged between 21 and 25 will be able to apply for further assistance to start a new course of education or training and to request advice and support.”
“The Bill will put dually approved placements on a statutory basis. That enables a child to be placed with approved prospective adopters, initially on a fostering basis. The intention is to facilitate earlier attachment and, potentially, to reduce the number of placements that a child waiting to be adopted may experience. If adoption is the proposed plan, trusts will be required to consider the placement of the child with dually approved carers. Dually approved carers will have access to adoption pay and leave arrangements, including shared parental leave and paid time off for attending pre-adoption appointments.”
“That process is known as "care planning", and the Bill will place a duty on trusts to prepare a care plan for a child within a timescale set by the court and to keep it under review. We will set out in regulations how the care plan is to be drawn up and the information to be included in the care plan. <BR /> <BR />Fostering panels make decisions about whether a person should be approved to foster. The Bill will enable my Department to make regulations setting out the functions of fostering panels and how they should operate. Individuals who disagree with a decision about whether they should be approved or continue to be approved to foster will be able to ask for an independent review of the decision. That is similar to the review mechanism being introduced for adoption decisions.”
“Unfortunately, the educational outcomes of many children in care are poor by comparison with those of their peers. The impact of the early trauma that the majority of them have experienced on their ability to learn can be compounded by multiple school moves. The Bill will require trusts to promote the educational achievement of looked-after children and prevent disruption to their education and training when providing them with accommodation. The Bill will give the Department a power to require or impose additional measures that are considered necessary to address the educational deficits that many such children experience. <BR /> <BR />Assessing the needs of children and deciding how best to meet those needs is a fundamental part of social work and care for looked-after children.”
“It will support children and young people who receive social care in raising issues or making complaints about the service that they receive and to have their views responded to appropriately. Statutory independent advocacy services will be available to support each child through that process. The Bill will introduce into law a set of principles, referred to as "corporate parenting principles", that trusts must follow when looking after children in care. The principles include having and promoting high aspirations for them, delivering safety and stability and preparing them for adulthood and independent living; in short, giving the opportunities and life chances that any good parent would seek and provide for their child. That includes the same learning opportunities and outcomes.”
“My Department will also issue statutory guidance for trusts to ensure that there is a regionally consistent approach to making such payments. Disabled children will be able to benefit from a residential short break without having to become looked-after. There will be guidance to help social workers to decide the safest and most appropriate way of supporting each child in those circumstances. The Bill also includes a power to extend the provision to other groups of children if required in the future. <BR /> <BR />Through the Bill, we will give a stronger voice to children and young people who are in care, have left care or are at risk of coming into care.”
“We will also be able to place countries on a restricted list in circumstances in which their adoption legislation, practice or procedures are insufficient to ensure the proper protection of children and their families. We will move to establish our own designated and restricted list for Northern Ireland, and it is anticipated that all UK jurisdictions will remain closely aligned in their decision-making regarding that list. <BR /> <BR />That is a summation of the Bill's provision that is specific to adoption. I turn now to what the Bill will provide for children in need, in care or on the edge of care and for care leavers. <BR /> <BR />The Bill will give social workers more flexibility to provide financial support to children and families in need.”
“All prospective adopters in Northern Ireland will be subject to the same rigorous preparation, training and assessment, regardless of whether the child whom they seek to adopt lives in the United Kingdom or overseas. The Bill introduces a power for my Department to charge a fee for the administration of inter-country adoption casework. I hope that that covers Mr Buckley's point. <BR /> <BR />We will be able to establish a specific Northern Ireland list of designated countries outside the United Kingdom that have sufficiently robust adoption procedures and safeguards to justify adoptions in that country being legally recognised in Northern Ireland.”
“I thank both Members for their questions. As I said in my statement, Mr Allister, the intermediary service will be available to adopted adults and natural parents and relatives as well as to people who are not natural relatives but are related to an adopted person by blood, marriage or civil partnership or by virtue of the adopted person's adoption, including the adopted person's children, grandchildren and other relatives. Access to such a service will enable those relatives to make contact with the adopted person's natural parents and wider family. I will get further information on the specific point for the Member. <BR /> <BR />The Bill also deals with foreign adoptions. It will strengthen safeguards for children being brought into or out of Northern Ireland through an inter-country adoption.”
“That includes, for example, the children, grandchildren and other relatives of the adopted person.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is intended that the independent review mechanism that I mentioned will extend to decisions about disclosure of protected adoption information relating to an adult. Individuals will be able to ask for an independent review if they are not content with a decision made about the disclosure of such information, including a decision not to disclose. <BR /> <BR />Intermediary services and counselling services will be made available to support people wanting to access information or make contact. Such services will be available to adopted adults and natural parents and relatives and to people who are not natural relatives but are related to an adopted person by blood, marriage or civil partnership or by virtue of the adopted person's adoption.”
“For post-commencement adoptions, the Bill will enable any person to access adoption case records held by an adoption agency and set out how that should happen. That includes a power to specify arrangements and requirements in more detail by way of regulations. Where the information requests include protected information — that is, identifying information about another individual — the adoption agency will have to take a number of factors into account when deciding whether to provide the information. Those factors will include a consideration of the adopted person's welfare and the views of the person whom the information is about. Where the information is about a child, the adoption agency must consider the child's welfare and take account of the child's views and those of any parent or guardian of the child.”
“I understand that it is acknowledged in the report of the truth recovery design panel, which, as I indicated to the Member, will be published today. That guidance will make it clear that, as far as possible, each agency should operate from the premise that all information relevant to an adopted adult's birth and adoption should be disclosed to them subject to the impact on the other parties being fully considered and the necessary supports being put in place for each adopted adult seeking disclosure.”
“The current framework under the Adoption Agencies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1989 will continue to apply so that adoption agencies can retain the discretion to disclose as much information from the records as is reasonably possible. That is subject to their legislative requirements and considerations, such as data protection legislation. <BR /> <BR />As a result of the ongoing work on the historical mother-and-baby institutions, work is also under way to develop guidance for adoption agencies on the disclosure of adoption records that they hold. That work is being taken forward on a co-design basis, and survivors of the institutions are working alongside social workers. I am advised that it is going well.”
“The Bill will make this change: it will be possible for adopted adults to indicate who they do and do not want to have contact with. Relatives will also be able to indicate whether they want to have contact with the adopted person. Not every adopted adult or natural parent will want contact, and we have to respect that. It is important to balance the privacy rights of natural parents and the wider family with the identity rights of adopted adults. <BR /> <BR />Adoption case records held by adoption agencies also contain relevant information that an adopted adult and others may wish to access. For pre-commencement adoptions, there will be no change to the way in which people will be able to seek access to such records.”
“Any adopted person seeking access to their birth record will be advised that a counselling service is available to them, and if a person was adopted before 18 December 1987, which was the date on which the current adoption legislation came into operation, they will have to attend a counselling interview. That interview will be available through the adoption agency and will take place before the Registrar General can provide access to the original birth record. If they are living elsewhere in the UK, other bodies, for example, the local authority or adoption support agency, may provide counselling services. <BR /> <BR />The existing adoption contact register will continue to be available and maintained by the Registrar General. It enables adopted adults and their relatives who want to make contact to register their willingness for contact.”
“<BR /> <BR />I will turn to access to information for adopted adults and the disclosure of adoption information and access to records. That was the point that Ms Dillon made. All adopted people should have the right to find out about their family history and background when and if they wish to do so. Adopted adults will continue to be able to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate from the General Register Office (GRO). People adopted before the Bill is commenced, which I will refer to as pre-commencement adoptions, will continue to request that information directly from the GRO. For people adopted after the Bill's commencement, which are referred to as post-commencement adoptions, the adoption agency, not the Registrar General, will be the main gateway for access to that information.”
“The policy intention is that there should be no presumption either for or against contact, and the welfare of the child will continue to be the paramount consideration of the court. The court will be able to make an order for contact during the period in which a child is placed or is waiting to be placed for adoption. A children's court guardian will be appointed to represent the child's interests in such proceedings. Following the making of the adoption order, the court will also be able to make a further contact order that either requires an adoptive parent to allow the child to have contact, to visit or to stay with his or her natural family or prohibits contact following adoption. Again, it will depend on what the court considers to be in the child's best interests.”
“There is currently no review mechanism that operates independently of adoption agencies. The establishment of such a mechanism will also support our efforts to build confidence in the adoption approval process and, hopefully, encourage more people to come forward to adopt. <BR /> <BR />Currently, the arrangements for contact are made informally and, generally, work well. It is anticipated that that practice will continue in the majority of cases. However, it is important to provide effective recourse to the courts for when such informal arrangements are not appropriate or not adhered to. When making a placement order or a final adoption order, the court will be required to consider any contact arrangements that the agency has made or proposes to make.”
“Applications can be made by men or women, including those in same-sex relationships. That was addressed by the courts a number of years ago as a result of a judicial review. <BR /> <BR />Eligibility to apply to adopt and suitability to adopt are very different things. Prospective adopters are currently, and will continue to be, subject to a rigorous assessment process to ensure that only persons capable of providing a loving, safe and secure home are approved to adopt. The welfare of the child will always be the overriding consideration. The matters to be taken into account when determining whether a person is suitable to adopt a child will be set out in regulation. <BR /> <BR />Under the Bill, it will be possible for someone whose application to adopt was turned down to seek an independent review. That is new.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill sets out the process for applying for an adoption order other than through an adoption agency — that is a non-agency adoption; the condition for making adoption orders; who is eligible to apply; and the effect of adoption orders. In non-agency adoption applications, the child must have lived with the person for three years before an application for an adoption order may be made. Where the person applying is a step-parent or an authority foster parent, a one-year requirement applies. <BR /> <BR />The current law on who can make an application to adopt has been carried through in the Bill. Applications can be made by single people and couples. That includes married couples, civil partners or two people living as partners in an enduring family relationship.”
“However, only two grounds for dispensing with consent will apply: where the court is satisfied that the parent or guardian cannot be found or is incapable of giving consent or that the welfare of the child requires the consent to be dispensed with. <BR /> <BR />The emphasis is on the welfare of the child, reinforcing the point that all decisions around adoption should centre on the child. It is also important to mention that it is vital to ensure that any consent by a parent is given freely, unconditionally and with the full understanding of what it will mean. To ensure that it is, court rules will specify what is required. As is currently the case, it is expected that the giving of consent to adoption will have to be witnessed by a lay magistrate.”
“The court may give leave only if there has been a change of circumstances since the parent or parents gave their consent. <BR /> <BR />It is intended that the new system will be fairer to parents, allowing them to continue to have shared responsibility until the making of the adoption order and the opportunity to withdraw consent up to the point at which an adoption order is applied for. It will also minimise the risk of a contested court hearing at the adoption order stage and will provide greater certainty for children and prospective adopters by dealing, as far as is possible, with parental consent before the child has been placed with them. <BR /> <BR />As is the case under current arrangements, a court may dispense with parental consent when making a placement order and when making an adoption order.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill enables parents to give advance consent to the final adoption order at the time they give consent to the placement or at any time afterwards. Even though parents may have given consent for their child to be placed for adoption, they can, at any time until the point when an application for an adoption order has been made, request the return of their child. If an adoption agency remains of the view that the adoption continues to be in the child's best interests, it will have to apply to the court for a placement order. However, once an application for an adoption order has been made, the court's consent is required for the return of the child. Where a parent has consented to placement for adoption, he or she may oppose the final adoption order in the course of proceedings only with the leave of the court.”
“<BR /> <BR />A parent can also give consent to their child being placed for adoption, and where that happens, the adoption agency will not need to apply for a placement order. Under the Bill, parental consent will replace parental agreement. Under current arrangements, parents give their agreement to the child being adopted, but not to being placed for adoption or being adopted. Also, the scope to withdraw an agreement is extremely limited. Under the new provision, the parents may consent to placement with named adopters or with adopters unknown at the time their consent is given. It is expected that the adoption agency will provide ongoing support and counselling to the parents to help them to come to terms with the eventual adoption of their child.”
“Placement orders will last until an adoption order is made, the child reaches 18 or the order is revoked. The parents will be able to apply to revoke the order, but only if the child has not been placed with prospective adopters and only with the leave of the court. Leave will be given only if the parent's circumstances have changed since the order was made. Therefore, unlike freeing orders, when a placement order is made, the parents keep parental responsibility for their child until the final adoption order is made. It will be shared with the adoption agency and may be restricted by the adoption agency. Once the child is placed for adoption, the prospective adopters will also share parental responsibility.”
“Important process changes will be made, and the aim is to ensure, at every step along the way, that adoption is the right decision for each and every child. <BR /> <BR />There are two routes for a child being placed for adoption. The adoption agency can secure a placement order from the court, or the child's parent can give consent to their child being placed for adoption. Placement orders are new and will replace freeing orders under current arrangements. Freeing orders have been widely criticised, partly because, once made, parental responsibility for the child transfers completely from the child's parents to the adoption agency. <BR /> <BR />Placement orders will authorise a trust to place a child with any adopters it selects. The trust will not need to go back to court if an initial placement fails.”
“Following an assessment, if the trust decides that support services should be provided, it will be required to prepare a plan and keep it under review. <BR /> <BR />Trusts will have a duty to provide information about the types of adoption support services available in their areas. That should ensure that those interested in adopting and adopters are better informed about adoption support services, their rights and other services that are available to them. That has the potential to increase the number of prospective adopters or make adopters more open to adopting harder-to-place children. <BR /> <BR />The Bill also makes provisions relating to the process of adoption, from when a trust considers that adoption is in the child's best interests through to the final adoption order being made.”
“Under the Bill, adoption support will include financial support, access to counselling, advice and information relating to adoption, but, importantly, it will be possible for the Department to further specify in regulation other support services that must be provided. <BR /> <BR />When the new legislative framework is in place, it will be possible for any person to request an assessment of needs for adoption support at any time before or after an adoption order has been made. Trusts will be under a duty to undertake such an assessment if that is requested by a child who is to be adopted, their parents, prospective adopters, adopted adults, their parents and natural parents. In all other cases, the trust will have the discretion to decide whether to undertake an assessment.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill will enable some adoption functions and services to be undertaken or delivered on a regional basis by, for example, one trust on behalf of the region. That could have the benefit of greater efficiency and equity of access to services, and it may also give a more consistent service user experience. Access to effective services will be critical. We know that adoptive children and their families are likely to have a range of additional needs, not just before adoption but afterwards. Good support can be the difference between an adopted child flourishing or his or her adoption breaking down.”
“The Bill will place a duty on each trust to provide a fit-for-purpose adoption service that meets the needs of everyone connected to adoption: the children to be adopted, the adopted children, the adopted adults and their adoptive parents, birth parents or guardians. The service must be effective in its assessments, placements and provision of support services. It will be possible for trusts to engage voluntary adoption agencies registered with the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) for the provision of adoption services. That will enable them to draw on the extensive expertise in adoption within the registered voluntary sector. An unregistered voluntary organisation may also provide adoption support services on behalf of a trust. We will specify that in regulations.”
“The Bill will place ARIS on a statutory footing and enable my Department to set out in regulation the framework within which it should operate. That includes the supply, retention and disclosure of information.”
“The average age of children adopted is four years and two months, although the latest published statistics show that that is beginning to fall. Overall, the average time taken to adopt a looked-after child is slightly more than three years, which is such a long time for a young child. Without compromising the safety and well-being of any child and ensuring that we are at all times acting in their best interests, we need to tackle unnecessary drift or delay. The Bill will do that by introducing a statutory principle of no delay in adoption decision-making, and it will require courts to draw up timetables for resolving adoption cases without delay. The current adoption regional information system (ARIS) is a vital tool in ensuring the timely matching of approved adopters with children waiting to be adopted within and across trusts.”
“I thank the Member for her very sensitive point, especially today, when we will consider the published report and where we are at the Second Stage of the Bill. Parts of the Bill will cover the provision of information, but, if the Member or her party feel that that needs to be strengthened in any way, I will look to her to table amendments through the Health Committee. I caution that she should look to what is already in the Bill because it may contain adequate provision for what she is asking for at a serious time for people who have been through a traumatic process. That report will be published later today. <BR /> <BR />I was talking about the average adoption age and delays in Northern Ireland.”
“Among other things, the list prompts decision makers to consider the value of a stable and harmonious family to a child, what the child wants and feels and his or her particular needs. Importantly, welfare and connection with adoption means lifelong welfare because adoption is a lifelong commitment. Unnecessary delay in the adoption process is and has been an issue for some time. Despite my Department setting targets on timescales for adoption, existing processes can be slow. The average age of children adopted is four years and two months.”
“It has three distinct Parts: Part 1 updates, strengthens and consolidates the law governing adoption in Northern Ireland; Part 2 makes amendments to the Children Order to extend and strengthen provision, with the aim of enhancing services and improving outcomes for children and families in need, looked-after children and care leavers; and Part 3 contains miscellaneous and supplementary provisions. <BR /> <BR />On adoption, as is the case with the Children Order, the Bill puts the welfare of the child front and centre of adoption decision-making by courts and adoption agencies. It introduces a welfare checklist that contains things that must be considered when deciding whether adoption is in the best interests of the child.”
“I thank those who took the time to respond to the consultations or attended any of the consultation events. As the scrutiny process begins, the Assembly can have confidence that the Bill has had the benefit of extensive stakeholder engagement and input by the stakeholder groups that met on many occasions to consider policy proposals. <BR /> <BR />The Bill is substantial — it has 160 clauses and five schedules — so I beg Members' indulgence while I take them through its main thrust.”
“<BR /> <BR />As many of you are aware, I published a strategy for looked after children in February this year. The strategy aims to improve the well-being of children and young people who are already in care, those at risk of entering care and those who have left care. The Bill will give legislative effect to the aims and objectives of the strategy and to many of the commitments made under it. <BR /> <BR />All the Bill's provisions were subject to two public consultations, one in 2006 and the other in 2017, and extensive stakeholder engagement. Respondents to both consultations included key stakeholders from the statutory and voluntary sectors, as well as care-experienced children and young people. Respondents to both consultations indicated overwhelming support for the Bill and the policy underpinning it.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill has been a long time in development, and that is due to a number of factors. They include legal challenges concerning the eligibility criteria to apply to adopt, the absence of a functioning Assembly for three years and, more recently, the reprioritising of work arising from the pandemic. However, in developing the Bill, my officials considered legislative developments relating to adoption and children in other jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. The Bill introduces measures similar to those in place in England and Wales since 2005 and since 2007 in Scotland. However, we have also sought to deliver legislation that addresses the needs of children and young people in Northern Ireland and a number of challenges specific to Northern Ireland.”
“Likewise, the decision to take a child into care in the first place is an onerous one for the social workers and their managers, who have to make care decisions daily. Our expectations of them, when those decisions are being made and subsequently, must be clearly set out in law. <BR /> <BR />The Bill will strengthen the current legislative framework around adoption and care. For adoption, it introduces greater safeguards and mandates much-needed support. For care, it will enable additional support to be provided to children on the edge of care; it will keep children with a disability, who need regular short breaks, out of care; it will provide greater support to children in care; it will enable some children to leave care; and it will increase support for care leavers.”
“There has been a 30% increase in 10 years and, significantly, a 6% increase during the pandemic. That demonstrates the strong connection between trauma and its impact on children being taken into care. <BR /> <BR />Every effort is made to keep families together. Over the last five years in particular, we have been investing more in earlier interventions to try to make that possible. Sadly, however, that is not possible for some children and young people. When they are taken into care to protect them from significant harm, trusts make every effort to find a permanent home for them. For around 90 children a year, their route to a permanent home is through adoption. The decision to recommend adoption for any child is hugely significant. For that reason alone, it is crucial that we have a robust legislative framework around it.”
“I am delighted to finally open the debate on the Adoption and Children Bill. It represents the first overhaul of adoption legislation in almost 35 years and has been long awaited by all involved in the adoption process. Likewise, the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, the key body of legislation for children's social care, is now more than 25 years old. There have been many challenges and delays in bringing forward the Bill, and we now have an opportunity to make a real difference, not only for children who are adopted in Northern Ireland and those connected with adoption but for the 3,571 children in care, children on the edge of care and care leavers. <BR /> <BR />Unlike the situation 35 years ago, the vast majority of children who are adopted today are adopted from care. Also, our care population has grown over that time.”
“Regardless of my preference, when Informing Choices signalled its intention to withdraw its services as of 1 August because of funding pressures, my officials were working up a bid into a paper to present to the Executive, as the direction requires us to do. The trusts engaged with BPAS to provide services and advice to women that meet what Informing Choices was doing, so there is a continuation of advice and services in that regard.”
“I thank the Member. That goes back to Ms Hunter's question about the information and direction that is available from trust websites. Google search engines are not within my scope, but it is important that our trusts are providing signposting for what are crucial services and advice lines.”
“It includes advice on contraception and STIs as well as sexual health and relationships education for people with learning disabilities.”
“In response to the initial question on the provision of support that Informing Choices was giving and that BPAS is now providing, Informing Choices had put in a provisional bid for £83,000 in a business case in order to provide that. BPAS, as the Member indicated, is providing that at no additional cost to the Department of Health in what is a challenging funding position. <BR /> <BR />The Member has indicated before in the House that she is a director of Informing Choices NI. I note the vital role that it has provided in Northern Ireland. That is why my Department and the Public Health Agency provide roughly £137,000 per year to fund Informing Choices. That funding supports the provision of free sexual health advice and the counselling service and literature on a range of issues for people who are often young, vulnerable or in crisis.”
“I will check to make sure that there is no disparity between what advice and provision it continues to provide for those women, what BPAS is providing, and what both organisations are now delivering.”
“Bringing a paper to the Executive is in line with the legal direction that we received, which is the subject of the legal proceedings today. We had approached Informing Choices about the funding bid for the additional advice work that it was doing when it provided the business case. That was being taken through and processed by departmental officials so that we could bring a paper to the Executive, as is required under the Secretary of State's direction. When Informing Choices signalled that it intended to withdraw its service, trusts engaged and worked with BPAS for it to provide the same service at no additional cost. <BR /> <BR />Informing Choices is still funded by my Department to deliver a level of service to the women of Northern Ireland and those who seek support and guidance.”