11 May 2021 Legislative Council Hansard
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L E G I S L A T I V E C O U N C I L O F F I C I A L R E P O R T R E C O R T Y S O I K O I L Y C H O O N C E I L S L A T T Y S S A G H P R O C E E D I N G S D A A L T Y N HANSARD Douglas, Tuesday, 11th May 2021 All published Official Reports can be found on the Tynwald website: www.tynwald.org.im/business/hansard Supplementary material provided subsequent to a sitting is also published to the website as a Hansard Appendix. Reports, maps and other documents referred to in the course of debates may be consulted on application to the Tynwald Library or the Clerk of Tynwald’s Office. Volume 138, No. 19 ISSN 1742-2272 Published by the Office of the Clerk of Tynwald, Legislative Buildings, Finch Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 3PW. © Court of Tynwald, 2021 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, TUESDAY, 11th MAY 2021 Present: The President of Tynwald (Hon. S C Rodan OBE) The Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man (The Rt Rev. P A Eagles), The Attorney General (Mr J L M Quinn QC), Mr P A Greenhill, Mr R W Henderson, Mrs K A Lord-Brennan, Mrs M M Maska, Mr R J Mercer, Mrs J P Poole-Wilson and Mrs K Sharpe with Mr J D C King, Clerk of the Council. Business transacted Leave of absence granted ............................................................................................................ 603 Tribute to His Honour Deemster William Cain CBE QC TH .......................................................... 603 Order of the Day ................................................................................................................ 604 1. Adoption Bill 2021 – Second Reading approved .............................................................. 604 2. Competition Bill 2020 – Second Reading approved ......................................................... 606 3. Landlord Registration (Private Housing) Bill 2020 – Second Reading approved .............. 614 4. Enterprise (Aviation and Merchant Shipping) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021 – First Reading approved ......................................................................................................... 616 Competition Bill 2020 (Continued) – Suspension of Standing Orders to allow evidence stage – Motion lost.................................................................................. 618 Procedural – Extra sitting ............................................................................................................. 621 The Council adjourned at 11.58 a.m. ........................................................................................... 621 ________________________________________________________________________ 602 C138 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, TUESDAY, 11th MAY 2021 Legislative Council The Council met at 10.33 a.m. [MR PRESIDENT in the Chair] The President: Moghrey mie, good morning, Hon. Members. 5 Members: Good morning, Mr President. The President: The Lord Bishop will lead us in prayer. PRAYERS The Lord Bishop Leave of absence granted The President: Please be seated. Hon. Members, Miss August-Hanson has continuing leave of absence. Mother and baby are 10 continuing to be well. Tribute to His Honour Deemster William Cain CBE QC TH The President: Hon. Members, you will have been very sorry to have learned of the death of our former Member of Legislative Council, His Honour Deemster William Cain. The son of former Second Deemster James Arthur Cain, Thomas William Cain was born in the Isle of Man in 1935. He was educated at Marlborough College and Worcester College, Oxford. After two years of 15 National Service, he was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1959 and admitted to the Manx Bar in 1961. William Cain then worked for T W Cain and Sons until 1980, when he was appointed as Her Majesty’s Attorney General for the Isle of Man and as such served in Legislative Council and Tynwald Court. He held this position until 1993 when he was made Second Deemster. He served as First Deemster from January 1998 to 2002, when he retired. 20 William Cain was awarded the Tynwald Honour in 2011, based on his national and international work. In the Isle of Man he was respected for his knowledge of and articles on constitutional reform, with his major contribution being the digitisation of Manx legislation; and, as the learned Attorney will vouch, there was probably no greater authority on the Kilbrandon Report, which was commissioned and published in the 1970s to determine the constitutional position of, amongst 25 other things, the Isle of Man. As Honorary Chairman of the Isle of Man branch of the United Nations Association, he promoted and strengthened relations with other nations. He also made a significant contribution to wildlife conservation, both in the Isle of Man and further afield. He was a founder member of the Manx Wildlife Trust and acted as its Chairman for 36 years until his retirement in 2010. He was ________________________________________________________________________ 603 C138 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, TUESDAY, 11th MAY 2021 30 instrumental in the introduction of the 1990 Manx Wildlife Act, which established the principles protecting many listed species of animals and plants. On a personal note, I had the privilege of knowing William Cain for over 30 years, and he was an absolute gentleman. This Council will wish to extend to Felicity and the family our deepest condolences. 35 Shall we stand for one moment in memory of our late colleague, Deemster William Cain CBE QC Tynwald Honour. Members stood in silence. The President: Thank you, Hon. Members Order of the Day 1. Adoption Bill 2021 – Second Reading approved Mrs Sharpe to move: That the Adoption Bill 2021 be read a second time. The President: We turn now to our Order Paper. The first Item of business is the Adoption Bill 40 and for Second Reading I call on the mover, Hon. Member of Council, Mrs Sharpe. Mrs Sharpe: Thank you, Mr President. Mr President, Hon. Members, I am pleased to move the Second Reading of the Adoption Bill 2021 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. 45 In my First Reading speech on 4th May, I gave a brief overview of the background to this Bill and the reason why an update to the Bill is so greatly needed. Our adoption legislation is simply out of date. To update our legislation, one of the most significant changes this Bill brings to Manx law is to make the child’s welfare the paramount consideration of the court or adoption agency for the whole of the child’s life, rather than just the first consideration, as it is currently in the 50 Adoption Act 1984. This change brings the Adoption Bill in line with the Children and Young Persons Act 2001. The Department, when considering policy for the new Bill, considered adoption law in other small islands and the law in Commonwealth jurisdictions. As a result of the close relationship we have with the UK and the numbers of cross-border placements, the Adoption and Children Act 55 2002 (of Parliament) for very practical reasons was deemed to be the most suitable starting point for our legislation. The Bill, however, is slightly different to English and Welsh law and is different in the areas which are appropriate in order to ensure it works correctly for our Island. One of the most significant areas of divergence with England and Wales is in relation to post- adoption contact. The Hon. Member, Mrs Lord-Brennan, raised this distinction last week at the 60 First Reading of the Bill. Unlike Parliament’s Adoption and Children Act 2002, the court cannot award direct contact when making an adoption order. At First Reading, I responded to the Hon. Member and explained that the Department decided against allowing direct contact – sorry, Mr President – as we are a small community. Direct contact could disrupt the child’s ability to bond with their adoptive family. This could have a detrimental effect on the formation of the 65 child’s attachment with their adoptive family and beyond. ________________________________________________________________________ 604 C138 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, TUESDAY, 11th MAY 2021 Mr President, there is no getting away from the fact that adoption is a lifelong transformative change. It creates a new legal relationship with the adoptive parents and legally severs the relationship with the birth parent. I would like to point out, though, that there are other legal routes to achieving permanence for a child in those circumstances where it is appropriate to 70 maintain direct contact with family members. This can be achieved, for example, through residence orders or special guardianship orders. These orders are made when it is not appropriate for the link with the birth family to be completely severed. In such cases where there are links to be continued with family members, then the Department believes these other routes for permanence, such as special guardianship 75 should be used rather than adoption. In short, it is the achievement of permanence for the child which is imperative, rather than the legal route taken. Indirect contact only can be awarded by the court in the Bill. However, the importance and value of indirect contact should not be overlooked. Indirect contact provides the child with an important link to their birth family and serves to help the adopted child to establish their identity. 80 So to conclude on this point, the Department considers that diverging from the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (of Parliament) in terms of direct and indirect contact is necessary for the Island. As mentioned in the First Reading, the Bill was amended in the House of Keys as a result of concerns with some definitions, in particular if ‘adoption agency’ or ‘registered adoption society’ should be used. To provide clarity, some amendments were then made. The Bill is in parts 85 complex, but necessarily so. The adoption of a child creates a new family for that child. Adoption is unique in this respect. Mr President, I will not outline the principles as I did at the First Reading, as I am sure Hon. Members are aware of these now.