|
S.C.B.
Amendment Paper as at
Tuesday 21st March 2006
STANDING COMMITTEE B
CHILDREN AND ADOPTION BILL [LORDS]
NOTE
The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Orders of the Committee [14th and 16th March 2006].
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
52
Page 11, line 23, leave out Clause 6.
Margaret Moran
35
Clause 7, page 12, line 3, at beginning insert—
'(1) After section 8 of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) insert—
"8A Pre-court checks
(1) On receipt of any application under section 8 the court shall direct that the relevant pre-court checks are undertaken to screen for indicators of risk to the child's safety and well-being.
(2) The court may ask an officer of the Service or a Welsh family proceedings officer to undertake any checks for the screening required by subsection (1).
(3) It shall be the duty of the officer of the Service or a Welsh family proceedings officer to comply with a request from the court under subsection (2).
(4) A court shall not normally make an order under section 8 until it has considered the results of the screening required by subsection (1) and is satisfied that the arrangements will be safe for the child.
(5) Pre-court checks to screen for indicators of risk required by subsection (1) and any subsequent risk assessments under section 16A shall be undertaken in accordance with the Code of Practice issued under section 8B.
8B Risk: code of practice
(1) The Secretary of State shall prepare, and from time to time revise, a Code of Practice regarding screening for indicators of risk and regarding risk assessment as required by section 16A.
(2) Before preparing the Code of Practice or making any alteration in it the Secretary of State shall consult such bodies as appear to him to be concerned.
(3) The Secretary of State shall lay copies of the Code and of any alteration in the Code before Parliament; and if either House of Parliament passes a resolution requiring the Code or any alteration to be withdrawn the Secretary of State shall withdraw the Code, and where he withdraws the Code, shall prepare a Code in substitution for the one which was withdrawn.
(4) No resolution shall be passed above in respect of a Code or any alteration after the expiration of the period of 40 days beginning with the day on which a copy of the Code or alteration was laid before that House; but for the purpose of this subsection no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days.
(5) The Secretary of State shall publish the Code as for the time being in force."'.
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
45
Clause 7, page 12, line 14, leave out 'cause' and insert 'reasonable grounds'.
Margaret Moran
Vera Baird
Mr David Kidney
36
Clause 7, page 12, line 15, after 'harm', insert 'at any time during proceedings,'.
Annette Brooke
30
Clause 7, page 12, line 17, at end insert—
'(2A) Upon receiving a risk assessment the court shall consider the need for separate representation of the child and his interests within proceedings.'.
Margaret Moran
Vera Baird
Mr David Kidney
37
Clause 7, page 12, line 20, after 'child', insert 'and undertaken in accordance with the Code of Practice issued under section 8B'.
Margaret Moran
Vera Baird
Mr David Kidney
38
Clause 7, page 12, line 20, at end insert—
'(4) A court shall not make an order under section 8 until it has considered the results of the risk assessment required by subsection (1) and is satisfied that the arrangements will be safe for the child.'.
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
53
Clause 7, page 12, line 20, at end add—
'(4) All risk assessments undertaken pursuant to subsection (2) shall proceed on the presumption that the child's interests are best served through reasonable contact with both his parents unless a good reason to the contrary is shown.
(5) When deciding whether there is reason to suspect that a child is at risk of harm, an Officer of the Service or a Welsh proceedings officer may only make a risk assessment where he has reasonable grounds to suspect that there is a significant risk of significant harm.
(6) An officer of the service or a Welsh proceedings office may only make a risk assessment where he has reasonable grounds to suspect that the significant risk involves a risk—
| (a) | to the child's physical safety, or |
(7) In all other circumstances than those outlined in subsections (5) and (6), the Officer of the Service or a Welsh proceedings officer shall not undertake a risk assessment except where directed to do so by a court.
(8) In any risk assessment based upon the likelihood of recurrence of previous events or previous risks it shall be a requirement that no reliance is placed upon previous events or previous risks in the absence of a finding of fact that those events or risks actually occurred.'.
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
9
Clause 17, page 17, line 36, leave out 'Children and' and insert 'Child Contact and Intercountry'.
Maria Eagle
28
Clause 17, page 18, line 22, leave out subsection (9).
NEW CLAUSES
Extended family: welfare checklist
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
NC1
To move the following Clause:—
'After section 1(3)(g) of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) insert—
| "(ga) | the desirability of contact between the child and his extended family in the absence of good reason to the contrary."'. |
Parenting time plans
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
NC2
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) The Secretary of State must issue guidance for separating parents called parenting time plans ("the guidance").
(2) The guidance must outline the kind of contact orders the court is likely to impose in a range of circumstances should parents be unable to reach agreement regarding contact with their child.
(3) Before publishing guidance under subsection (1), the Secretary of State shall consult and seek approval from—
| (a) | child development experts, |
| (b) | the family courts of England and Wales, and |
| (c) | any other person who appears to him to have an interest in the issue. |
(4) The Secretary of State may not issue the guidance unless a draft of it has been laid before, and approved by resolution of, each House of Parliament.
(5) The Secretary of State may, from time to time, revise the guidance.
(6) A revised version of the guidance shall not come into force until the Secretary of State lays it before Parliament.
(7) Where either House, before the end of the period of 40 days beginning with the day on which a revised version of the guidance is laid before it, by resolution disapproves that version—
| (a) | the Secretary of State must, under subsection (5), make such further revisions to the guidance as appear to him to be required in the circumstances, and |
| (b) | before the end of the period of 40 days beginning with the date on which the resolution is made, lay a further revised version of the guidance before Parliament. |
(8) In reckoning any period of 40 days for the purposes of subsection (7), no account is to be taken of any time during which—
| (a) | Parliament is dissolved or prorogued, or |
| (b) | both Houses are adjourned for more than four days. |
(9) The Secretary of State must arrange for any revised guidance under this section to be published in such a manner as he considers appropriate.'.
Pilot scheme on early intervention
Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett
NC3
To move the following Clause:—
'(1) The Lord Chancellor shall run a pilot scheme better to protect the post-divorce and post-separation family ties of children by providing for intervention before the court makes a contact order with respect to the child.
(2) The order shall designate courts to participate within the scheme.
(3) When a designated court is approached to make a contact order, the court must provide to the parties—
| (a) | a set of guidelines, indicating in broad terms the levels of contact appropriate in the main categories of cases, in the absence of good reason to the contrary, accompanied by an enjoinder to maintain reasonable contact wherever possible, |
| (b) | the date of the first hearing, |
| (c) | an instruction to attend a meeting with a court-appointed mediator to develop a parenting plan which must include the amount of time each party will spend with the child, |
| (d) | an explanation that parties who do not file the agreed parenting plan must then— |
| (i) | attend a parent education meeting, and |
| (ii) | attend contact-focused dispute resolution and mediation |
as decided by the court appointed mediator, before the parties may continue with any application for a contact order, and
| (e) | a statement that litigation should be a last resort. |
(4) Parties who do not wish to ask the court to make a contact order may also make use of the mediation and education facilities of the pilot scheme.
(5) The court shall take into account the willingness of each parent to participate in the scheme.
(6) The pilot scheme must start no later than six months after this Act receives Royal Assent and must run for no longer than two years.
(7) The Lord Chancellor must direct the President of the Family Division to report to him as to the operation of the pilot scheme.
(8) The report under subsection (6) must include an assessment of the extent to which the pilot scheme has achieved the objectives set out in this section.'.
| 
