An Adoption Order cannot be made unless the mother and father (if he has
parental responsibility) consent to it - or a court decides to override their
refusal to do so - this is called "dispensing with consent". It is normal
nowadays for the father to be contacted by the Reporting Officer or Guardian,
even if he does not have PR. Surprisingly, there is no requirement to obtain the
consent of a non-parent who has a Residence Order (although this will
change).
A Court can dispense with the need for parents' consent if one of the
following applies:
- They cannot be found or are incapable of giving consent
- They are withholding consent unreasonably (the usual ground - see below)
- They have failed to carry out their parental responsibility for the child
- They have abandoned or neglected the child
- They have persistently ill-treated the child
- They have seriously ill-treated the child
In practice it is Ground 2 (withholding consent unreasonably) which is most
often deployed. It is a curious test, but circular in nature: ' a judge has
decided the best thing for the child is to be adopted : therefore it is
unreasonable for the parent not to agree'. It leaves open arguments, where there
has been a long delay from Care Order to adoption application, that if the birth
parents' circumstances have improved, it might not be unreasonable for them to
refuse consent even if adoption is in the best interests of the child. In
step-parent cases, the two tests cause considerable confusion.