The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (the
'OSCR') reviewed the practices of St Margaret's
Children and Family Care Society in January of last year and found
it to be breaching the Equality Act 2010. The OSCR judged that it
gave greater priority to prospective adoptive parents who were a
couple, Catholic, married for at least two years and who wished to
adopt within the framework of the Catholic faith. The OSCR
concluded that St Margaret's was engaging in discrimination
given its refusal to place children with same-sex couples.
However, the Scottish Charity Appeals Panel ('SCPAB') has
overturned this decision. SCPAB has concluded that St
Margaret's attracts the charity exemption pursuant to section
193 of the Equality Act and that the indirect discrimination is a
proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim: "to be a
faith based organisation and to manifest that faith inter alia in
an adoption service and to ensure that Catholic adoption is
available to Catholic children".
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