The Children (Protection from Offenders) (Amendment) Regulations 1999
These Regulations amend the Adoption Agencies Regulations 1983 and the Foster Placement (Children) Regulations 1991 in respect of England. By those Regulations a local authority is not to consider a person with a conviction or a caution for an offence specified in Schedule 2 of the Adoption Agencies Regulations or Schedule 4 of the Foster Placement (Children) Regulations suitable to adopt or to foster a child. The main effect of these Regulations is to remove this absolute prohibition, and allow local authorities to exercise their discretion, in the case of an offence of actual bodily harm (assault in Scotland), committed when a person was under the age of 18.