Amendments proposed to the Children and Adoption Bill [lords] - continued House of Commons

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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).'.


UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

   

Annette Brooke
Sandra Gidley

NC16

To move the following Clause:—

    'After section 1(3)(g) of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) insert—

          "(h) Article 9 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child."'.


Allocation of cases

   

Mr David Kidney

NC17

To move the following Clause:—

    '(1)   In any family proceedings in which a court has power to make an order with respect to a child, when allocating proceedings the court shall, upon receipt of an application relating to a child, have regard to—

      (a) minimising delay to proceedings, and

      (b) minimising the cost of proceedings, as far as is reasonably practicable.

    (2)   In deciding how to allocate proceedings in accordance with subsection (1), a court shall have regard to the availability of—

      (a) mediation provided by an independent third party,

      (b) mediation and conciliation provided in court,

      (c) court time for the early determination of any disputed questions that arise within the proceedings, and

      (d) the range of provisions available for providing the court with further information before making any decision.

    (3)   In deciding how to allocate proceedings in accordance with this section, a court shall have regard to any risk assessment provided in acccordance with section 16A of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) and shall, in the absence of such an assessment, consider whether to request such an assessment before proceeding.

    (4)   Rules of court may be made in order to set out the procedure for arranging hearings and making decisions in accordance with this section, including—

      (a) the making of any application to a court,

      (b) the arrangements for any hearing,

      (c) the timing of hearings,

      (d) the notification of any decisions made to the parties involved and others, and

      (e) any other matter ancillary thereto.

    (5)   At any stage in any family proceedings to which this section relates the court may, upon the application of any party or of its own motion, arrange a further hearing to consider further the arrangements for the allocation of the case.'.



 
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