The Welsh Ministers have made the Regulated Adoption Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) and Adoption Support Services (Local Authorities) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2026 (WSI 2026/53). The instrument was made on 25 February 2026, approved by Senedd Cymru, and will come into force on 1 April 2026, according to legislation.gov.uk.
The Regulations amend the Regulated Adoption Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2019 and the Adoption Support Services (Local Authorities) (Wales) Regulations 2005. They are made under sections 2(3) and 187(1)(b) of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 and sections 2(6)(b), 3(3)(a) and (4)(b), and 142(4) and (5)(a) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The Welsh Ministers confirm consultation under section 2(4) of the 2016 Act.
Amendments to the 2019 Regulations refine the exceptions to what constitutes an adoption service under paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to the 2016 Act. From 1 April, adoption support delivered solely under a contract for services with a regulated adoption service or with a local authority adoption service will not be treated as an adoption service for registration purposes. The explanatory note confirms this applies whether the contractor is an individual, partnership or corporate body.
A new exception also covers counselling in relation to adoption when provided solely to individuals who have attained the age of 18. That counselling is not treated as an adoption service for the purposes of the 2016 Act. The amendment removes a redundant paragraph within regulation 3 of the 2019 Regulations to reflect the revised structure.
For the 2005 Regulations, a definition of “birth parent” is inserted, aligned with the meaning of “natural parent” in the Adoption and Children Act 2002, with other references to relationships by birth construed consistently. Consequential changes replace “natural” with “birth” across relevant provisions to standardise terminology.
Regulation 3 of the 2005 Regulations (prescribed services) is replaced and clarified. In addition to counselling, advice and information already provided for in the 2002 Act, prescribed adoption support services now include financial support; services enabling groups of adoptive children, adoptive parents and birth parents or former guardians to discuss adoption matters; assistance for adoptive children, adoptive parents, birth parents or former guardians, and related persons, in relation to contact arrangements; services to meet an adoptive child’s therapeutic needs; support to maintain the relationship between the child and the adoptive parent, including training for adopters and, subject to the rule on accommodation below, respite care; and assistance where disruption has occurred or is at risk, including mediation and the organising of disruption meetings.
Where respite care includes accommodation, the Regulations require that accommodation is provided by or on behalf of a local authority under section 81 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 or by a voluntary organisation under section 59 of the Children Act 1989. This sets a clear statutory basis for commissioning accommodation-based respite within adoption support.
“Disruption of an adoption placement” is defined to encompass any point from the child’s introduction to prospective adopters, through the placement period and beyond the making of an adoption order. The definition confirms that disruption-related support may be considered both pre- and post-order.
Eligibility is widened in regulation 4 so that a birth parent or former guardian of a child who has been placed for adoption, or adopted following such placement, is among those for whom local authorities must have arrangements in place. References to “guardian” adopt the meaning given in the 2002 Act.
Delivery routes are also clarified. Regulation 4(5) amends regulation 5(1)(bb) of the 2005 Regulations so that “a person” rather than only “an individual” may provide adoption support services on behalf of a local authority. This ensures that providers who fall within the new contractual exception in the 2019 Regulations can be commissioned for the purposes of section 3(4)(b) of the 2002 Act.
The Schedule makes minor and consequential amendments, including updated cross‑references following the restructure of regulation 3 (for example, to 3(1)(b)) and the replacement of “natural” with “birth” in definitions of “adoptive parent” and “non‑agency adoptive child”, in regulation 4(2) and in regulation 7(1)(b). These technical corrections align the 2005 Regulations with the new drafting.
Dawn Bowden, Minister for Children and Social Care, signed the instrument on 25 February 2026 under the authority of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. The Welsh Government states that a Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and is available from the Department of Health, Social Care and Early Years and on gov.wales.
With commencement on 1 April 2026, providers and local authorities have a short implementation window. Contract terms for externally delivered adoption support, public information on adult‑only counselling, commissioning routes for accommodation-based respite, and eligibility guidance should be reviewed to reflect the amended 2019 and 2005 Regulations.