Amendments proposed to the Children and Adoption Bill [Lords] - continued	House of Commons
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Registration of private foster parents

   

Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett

NC4

To move the following Clause:—

'For section 69 of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) substitute—

    "69   Registration of private foster parents

    (1)   Every local authority shall keep a register of persons who act as private foster parents within their area.

    (2)   A local authority shall not register any person as a private foster parent unless it is satisfied that he is fit to act as a private foster parent.

    (3)   The Secretary of State shall by regulations make provision as to the considerations to which a local authority is to have regard in reaching a decision as to whether to register a person as a private foster parent.

    (4)   A local authority shall cancel the registration of any person under subsection (1) if—

(a)	it appears to them that the circumstances of the case are such that they would be justified in refusing to register that person as a private foster parent,

(b)	the case provided by that person for any privately fostered child is, in the opinion of the authority, inadequate, having regard to the needs of that child, or

(c)	the premises in which any privately fostered child is or would be accommodated are not suitable for that purpose.

    (5)   No person shall act as a private foster parent unless he is registered under subsection (1).

    (6)   A person who contravenes subsection (5) shall be guilty of an offence.

    (7)   A person guilty of an offence under subsection (6) shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.

    (8)   A person aggrieved by the refusal of a local authority to register him as a private foster parent may appeal to the court in accordance with paragraph 8 of Schedule 8 to this Act.

    (9)   In dealing with private foster arrangements a local authority must have regard to the arrangements for safeguarding children."'.

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Sanctions against false allegations of violence or significant harm

   

Tim Loughton
Mrs Maria Miller
Mr Stewart Jackson
Jeremy Wright
Mr David Evennett

NC5

To move the following Clause:—

'After section 10 of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) insert—

    "10A   Sanctions against false allegations of violence or significant harm

    (1)   The Secretary of State may make regulations to require the court to act in accordance with subsection (2).

    (2)   Where during the course of contact proceedings—

(a)	a person makes an allegation of violence or significant harm against another person, and

(b)	the allegation is found by the court upon investigation to have been fabricated,

the court must have regard to this finding when considering any representations by either person about contact arrangements with a child and may treat it as an aggravating factor when considering whether to make an order under sections 11J to 11N."'.

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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

(d)	the child concerned.

    (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."'.

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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))."'.

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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."'.

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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."'.

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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."'.

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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."'.

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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."'.

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Prepared 21 Mar 2006