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Section 11: Restriction on arranging adoptions and placing of children.

Adoption Act 1976 · 1976 c. 36View on legislation.gov.uk

This provision is repealed
It is retained for historical reference and may not reflect the law currently in force.

Part I: The Adoption Service

REPEALED on 2005-12-30 by Adoption and Children Act 2002.

The text below is from the dated revised snapshot immediately preceding this status change. It is historical and is not current law. View the historical source.

A person other than an adoption agency shall not make arrangements for the adoption of a child, or place a child for adoption, unless—

the proposed adopter is a relative of the child, or
he is acting in pursuance of an order of the High Court.

An adoption society which is—

approved as respects Scotland under section 3 of the Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978; or
registered as respects Northern Ireland under Article 4 of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987,

but which is not an appropriate voluntary organisation, shall not act as an adoption society in England and Wales except to the extent that the society considers it necessary to do so in the interests of a person mentioned in section 1 of the Act of 1978 or Article 3 of the Order of 1987.

A person who—

takes part in the management or control of a body of persons which exists wholly or partly for the purpose of making arrangements for the adoption of children and which is not an adoption agency; or
contravenes subsection (1); or
receives a child placed with him in contravention of subsection (1),

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to both.

In any proceedings for an offence under paragraph (a) of subsection (3), proof of things done or of words written, spoken or published (whether or not in the presence of any party to the proceedings) by any person taking part in the management or control of a body of persons, or in making arrangements for the adoption of children on behalf of the body, shall be admissible as evidence of the purpose for which that body exists.

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About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.