Recommendations & Conclusions
4 items
1
Conclusion
8th Report - Historical Forced Adoption
Acknowledged
We are in agreement as a Committee that the survivors’ testimony, which was a formal Parliamentary proceeding and live broadcast, was some of the most powerful, moving and compelling evidence we have heard. We would like to place on the record our heartfelt thanks for their bravery, honesty and eloquence. …
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We are in agreement as a Committee that the survivors’ testimony, which was a formal Parliamentary proceeding and live broadcast, was some of the most powerful, moving and compelling evidence we have heard. We would like to place on the record our heartfelt thanks for their bravery, honesty and eloquence. (Conclusion, Paragraph 2)
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the committee's gratitude for survivor testimony and the report's insights, reiterating the Prime Minister's formal apology for historic forced adoption practices.
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Department for Education
2
Conclusion
8th Report - Historical Forced Adoption
Acknowledged
To give an idea of the scale of this issue, it is estimated that around 185,000 children were adopted between 1949 and 1976. Not all adoptions happened in the appalling circumstances described by our lived experience witnesses - for example, sometimes children were orphaned. People with lived experience may have …
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To give an idea of the scale of this issue, it is estimated that around 185,000 children were adopted between 1949 and 1976. Not all adoptions happened in the appalling circumstances described by our lived experience witnesses - for example, sometimes children were orphaned. People with lived experience may have a diverse range of views on what happened, and of course not everyone’s experience was the same, with some happily more positive; but a diversity of views does not dilute the harm that many suffered and whose testimony we have heard. (Conclusion, Paragraph 3)
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the committee's report, recognising the seriousness and lasting impact of historic forced adoption practices, and highlights the Prime Minister's formal apology for the harm caused.
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Department for Education
3
Recommendation
8th Report - Historical Forced Adoption
Acknowledged
Survivors of forced adoption must not have to repeat, in public, their harrowing stories anymore. It is clear that decisive Government action, beginning with a co-authored apology, and continuing with a programme of fully funded support for survivors, must now happen without delay, so that survivors can get on with …
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Survivors of forced adoption must not have to repeat, in public, their harrowing stories anymore. It is clear that decisive Government action, beginning with a co-authored apology, and continuing with a programme of fully funded support for survivors, must now happen without delay, so that survivors can get on with their lives. We go on to consider the evidence for an apology, as well as other measures, in detail in the remainder of this short report; but we begin by stating that the Government must act now; and by asking, exceptionally, that the Government provides an initial response, setting out a timetable for developing and issuing its apology, within one month in recognition of the huge cost to survivors of continued delay and inaction. (Conclusion, Paragraph 8) An apology
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Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges the report and states that the Prime Minister delivered a formal apology on 2 July, which addressed the harm caused and the state's role. It indicates the document will detail further practical measures.
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Department for Education
19
Recommendation
8th Report - Historical Forced Adoption
Acknowledged
Beyond this, it was clear from our evidence that as well as safeguarding and maintaining records, organisations holding records must ensure they take steps to respond to and help survivors in a way that is sensitive to the challenges for survivors in approaching an organisation that may have been complicit …
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Beyond this, it was clear from our evidence that as well as safeguarding and maintaining records, organisations holding records must ensure they take steps to respond to and help survivors in a way that is sensitive to the challenges for survivors in approaching an organisation that may have been complicit in the harm that was done to them. This should involve not only enhanced training for staff, but also ensuring that organisations reflect on their history and present it in a way which reflects the evidence as we now understand it - that women were coerced into adoption without consent, and suffered abuse, and that this resulted in lifelong trauma both for mothers and for their children; and that the system was cruel, traumatising and stigmatising for women who were placed in Mother and Baby Homes, even when they were able to keep their babies. (Recommendation, Paragraph 65) Improving intermediary support for adoptees and birth families
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Government response AI summary
The government accepts in principle, agreeing on sensitive treatment for individuals seeking records. It will support organizations in embedding a trauma-informed approach promoted by the updated 2025 practice guidance.
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Department for Education