Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to review the options for equalising the rights and entitlements of all adopters, irrespective of their employment status.

Self-employed adoptive parents may be supported in a range of ways by local authorities, including through financial support where applicable, as set out in the statutory guidance on adoption.

This says that local authorities should consider making a payment, equivalent to maternity allowance, in cases where adopters do not qualify for any statutory payment because of their self-employment.

The government does not currently have plans to review further the rights and entitlements of adopters, nor to conduct an equalities impact assessment on statutory adoption pay. However, the department continually keeps under review the need to revise guidance, including the statutory guidance on adoption.