Children and Adoption Bill [HL]

I am most grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, who has not managed to get back here yet, for intervening earlier. I was about to rise and explain, in response to the comments of the noble Earl, Lord Howe, that in tabling these amendments, I have made some perfectly reasonable assumptions. I assumed that the children would have their wishes and feelings ascertained by a properly trained professional in a sensitive and age-appropriate manner, probably in their own home, and that it would be done in such a way, as the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, described, as to make it as stress-free as possible for the child. The amendments do not say that the wishes and feelings of the child have to be absolutely paramount and that what has to be done must be exactly in line with them. However, we must know what those wishes and feelings are so that proper judgments can be made. The noble Earl referred to asking a child whether he wanted to go to school. Of course, the sensible decision is that while he may not want to go to school, he has to. One should look at the reason why the child did not want to go to school. When a properly trained professional asks these questions in a sensitive and age-appropriate way, even if the answer is, ““I don’t want to choose between my parents””—we probably all know children who have said that—the professional will be able to probe a little to find out what is behind what the child is saying, and it must be taken into account. But if we do not know what those wishes and feelings are, we cannot take them into account. That is why it is essential to consider these amendments seriously. I look forward to the Minister’s response.