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Compensatory contact
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
NC6
To move the following Clause:—
'After section 11P of the Children Act 1989 insert—
"11Q Compensatory contact
(1) This section applies if a contact order with respect to a child has been made.
(2) If the court is satisfied that—
| (a) | an individual has failed to comply with the contact order, and |
| (b) | a person falling within subsection (6) has been deprived of contact time by reason of the breach, |
it may make an order granting additional contact time between the person and the child concerned with a view to mitigating the effect of the breach.
(3) The court may not make an order under subsection (2) if it is satisfied that the individual in breach had a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with the contact order.
(4) The burden of proof as to the matter mentioned in subsection (3) lies on the individual claiming to have had a reasonable excuse.
(5) An order under subsection (2) may be made only on an application by the person who claims to have been deprived of contact time.
(6) A person falls within this subsection if he is—
| (a) | the person who is, for the purposes of the contact order, the person with whom the child concerned lives or is to live, |
| (b) | the person whose contact with the child concerned is provided for in the contact order, |
| (c) | an individual subject to a condition under section 11(7)(b) or a contact activity condition imposed by the contact order, or |
(7) Where the person proposing to apply for an order under subsection (2) is the child concerned, the child must obtain the leave of the court before making such an application.
(8) The court may grant leave to the child concerned only if it is satisfied that he has sufficient understanding to make the proposed application.
(9) Subsection (2) has effect subject to the restrictions in section 11S.
(10) Proceedings in which any question of making an order under subsection (2) arises are to be regarded for the purposes of section 11(1) and (2) as proceedings in which a question arises with respect to a section 8 order.
(11) In exercising its powers under this section, a court must treat as paramount the interests of the child concerned."'.
Orders under section 11(2): further provision
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
NC7
To move the following Clause:—
'After section 11R of the Children Act 1989 insert—
"11R Orders under section 11Q: further provision
(1) A court may not make an order under section 11Q(2) granting additional contact time between a person and the child concerned following the failure by an individual to comply with a contact order unless it is satisfied that before the failure occurred the individual had been given (in accordance with rules of court) a copy of, or otherwise informed of the terms of—
| (a) | in the case of a failure to comply with a contact order that was varied before the failure occurred, a notice under seciton 11I relating to the order varying the contact order or, where more than one such order has been made, the last order proceeding the failure in question, and |
| (b) | in any other case, a notice under section 11I relating to the contact order. |
(2) A court may make an order under section 11Q(2) in pursuance of a failure by an individual to comply with a contact order where the failure occurred before the individual attained the age of 18.
(3) A court may not make an order under section 11Q(2) in respect of a failure by an individual to comply with a contact order that is an excepted order (within the meaning given in section 11B(4))."'.
Presumption in favour of co-parenting
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
NC8
To move the following Clause:—
'After section 1(1) of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) insert—
"(1A) In respect of subsection (1)(a) the court shall, unless a contrary reason be shown, act on the presumption that a child's welfare is best served through residence with his parents and, if his parents are not living together, through residence with one of them and through both of them being as fully and equally involved in his parenting as possible."'.
Frequent and continuing contact
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
NC9
To move the following Clause:—
'After section 11(1)(9)(b) of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) insert—
| "(c) | subject to good reason to the contrary, where the safety of the child is not an issue, the non-resident parent will be allowed frequent and continuing contact with the child."'. |
Reasonable contact
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
NC11
To move the following Clause:—
'In section 8(1) of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41), for the definition of "a contact order", substitute—
""a contact order" means an order requiring the person with whom a child lives, or is to live, to have reasonable contact with the person named in the order in the absence of good reason to the contrary and subject to section 1(1A) of this Act."'.
Reasonable contact: no order principle
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
NC12
To move the following Clause:—
'After section 1(5) of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) insert—
"(6) The "no order" principle in section 1(5) shall be construed subject to section 1(1A) of this Act whereby it shall be presumed that making making an order for reasonable contact with the parents is, in the absence of good reason to the contrary, better for the child than making no order at all."'.
Pre-court dispute resolution and mediation when the safety of the child is not an issue
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
NC13
To move the following Clause:—
'Before section 8 of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) insert—
"7A Dispute resolution and mediation before making a child contact order
(1) The President of the Family Division shall keep a register of mediators.
(2) The President may make regulations about the qualifications and conduct required for registration as a mediator under subsection (1).
(3) A person may not act as a mediator for the purposes of this section unless he is on the register.
(4) Before the court makes an order under section 8 about contact in cases where the safety of the child is not an issue, it must give a direction requiring each party to attend a meeting with a mediator arranged in accordance with the direction for the purpose of—
| (a) | enabling the mediator to explain the facilities and options open to the parties regarding parent education, parenting plans, dispute resolution and mediation in relation to disputes over child contact, and |
| (b) | enabling a timetable for dispute resolution and mediation discussions with a mediator regarding reasonable child contact for both parents. |
(5) The parties shall be required to attend the same meeting unless the court considers separate meetings to be more appropriate.
(6) The court may not issue a direction under subsection (4) unless it has issued a parenting time plan to each party, as provided for in section (Parenting time plans) of the Children and Adoption Act 2006.
(7) After a meeting held pursuant to a direction under subsection (4), the parties must attend such a course of dispute resolution and mediation as the mediator considers appropriate.
(8) A party's failure to attend the mediation will stand on their court record and may form part of the basis on which the court makes an order under section 8.
(9) The mediator must give a certificate when, in his opinion, the parties have—
| (a) | reached a satisfactory solution, or |
| (b) | failed to reach a satisfactory solution. |
In either event, the parties may then continue with any application to the court for an order under section 8."'.
Welfare of the child: contact with parents
Annette Brooke
Sandra Gidley
NC14
To move the following Clause:—
'After section 1(3)(g) of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) insert—
| "(h) | the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child's best interests."'. |
Default contact arrangements
Annette Brooke
Sandra Gidley
NC15
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) In the case of any child, following the separation of those having parental responsibility for that child, default contact arrangements appropriate for that child shall be deemed to have been agreed between those having parental responsibility for the child unless and until either—
| (a) | those with parental responsibility for the child agree any other contact arrangements for the child (with or without the assistance of a mediator or other outside agency), or |
| (b) | the court otherwise determines having regard to section 1(1) of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41). |
(2) Those having parental responsiblity, in making an agreement on contact arrangements, and the court in making any order, shall have regard to the child's right for its views to be heard under article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
(3) If a person having parental responsibility for a child applies for an order which would have the effect of excluding contact between the child and any other such person, the court shall deal with any such application as quickly as reasonably practicable, (having regard to the requirements of section 7 of the Children Act 1989).'.
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