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Committee publication · Correspondence · 24 March 2026

Letter from The Salvation Army on Historical Forced Adoption, dated 05.06.26

From: Education Committee

Inquiry: Historical Forced Adoption

Summary

The Salvation Army's Chief Secretary writes to the Education Committee Chair following his oral evidence on historical forced adoptions, apologising for his previous testimony's tone and lack of empathy. He acknowledges the organisation's responsibility for non-consensual adoptions in its mother and baby homes, expresses unreserved apology to affected parties, and commits to providing additional information and supporting survivors through its Safeguarding Team.

Key findings

  • The Salvation Army acknowledges that consent for many adoptions was not meaningfully given and some were arranged against mothers' wishes
  • The organisation has issued an unreserved apology to everyone affected by their mother and baby homes, recognising lifelong impacts on mothers, children and families
  • Chief Secretary Peter Forrest apologises for his previous evidence being factual rather than emotionally responsive, treating individual cases as statistics rather than painful human histories
  • The Salvation Army recognises survivors have fought for decades for recognition and commits to listening and learning from testimonies
  • The organisation offers to share historical records (though incomplete) and invites affected individuals to contact its Safeguarding Team

Tone

Procedural

Topics

safeguardingadoptionhistorical-institutional-abusechild-welfare

Key actors

Colonel Peter Forrest, Helen Hayes MP, The Salvation Army, Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main

Notable line

“We have unreservedly apologised to everyone affected by their time in our mother and baby homes.”

Key Quotes

“We recognise that for many mothers, consent for adoptions were not meaningfully given, and we understand more broadly that some adoptions would have been arranged against the wishes of the mother.”
— Colonel Peter Forrest · acknowledging non-consensual adoption practices
“In reaching for facts and figures to answer the Committee's questions, I failed to make clear that each of those facts and figures represents a person and a painful history.”
— Colonel Peter Forrest · apologising for tone of previous evidence
“We are committed to listening and learning from the testimonies of those who did not receive the care they needed from our mother and baby homes”
— Colonel Peter Forrest · commitment to future engagement with survivors
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Source · parliament.uk record ↗