Children and Adoption Bill [HL]

In bringing this disjointed debate to a conclusion at the end of our second day in Committee, perhaps I may first describe the provisions of Clause 2 and then reply to some of the questions that have been raised. Clause 2 inserts new Section 11H, on page 5 of the Bill, into the Children Act 1989 to enable the court to require a CAFCASS officer or a Welsh family proceedings officer to monitor compliance with a contact order. The court may ask the officer to monitor whether those with obligations under the contact order comply with the contact order and may ask the officer to report to the court on such matters as the court may specify in its request. The court must specify the period of time for which the officer is to monitor contact, up to a maximum of one year. The noble Baroness asked, ““Why one year?”” It is because our discussions with CAFCASS and the judiciary lead us to conclude that in the overwhelming majority of cases a judgment can be made by the end of that period as to whether or not the order is being observed. Indeed, it may well lead to the matter returning to the court well before the end of that one year. However, as I said in reply to an earlier debate, it would be up to the court to extend the periods in new Section 11H(5) for longer at the end of that one year if it believed that further monitoring would help to ensure compliance with the order. The court may order any individual who has a role in the contact order in question to take steps, which the court will specify, in order to enable the CAFCASS officer or the Welsh family proceedings officer to carry out the monitoring required by the court. As to the length of reports—an issue to which the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, referred—as I understand it, the emphasis on moving to shorter reports is a part of CAFCASS’s own professional strategy. This is based on the belief that, rather than the often lengthy reports it has at the moment, it should have succinct reports which are more focused on recommendations to the court, based on work with children and less on the producing of elaborate reports for their own sake. The provisions of new Section 11H relate solely to monitoring compliance with the terms of the contact order; they do not relate to monitoring compliance with a contact activity condition or direction. This addresses another point made by the noble Baroness. The monitoring of contact activity directions and conditions is provided for under the provisions of new Section 11G, which is inserted by Clause 1. The ability to order monitoring of compliance with a contact order will be a significant additional power available to the courts, the effect of which will be to encourage people to make contact orders operate successfully. The fact that people know that a breach of a contact order will be reported back to the court will in itself be a strong incentive to comply with the order. It will also assist non-resident parents, many of whom currently feel that the court offers them little or no support once it has made its order and that no statutory authority exists to ensure that orders are complied with. The president of the Family Division issued the Private Law Programme in January 2005, which provides guidance to the courts about handling private law cases, including advice on dealing with applications for enforcement. The programme establishes good practice guidelines for the courts to assist families through active case management, avoidance of unnecessary delays, monitoring and reviewing outcomes and enforcing court orders. The programme suggests that CAFCASS should be able to bring cases back to court in appropriate circumstances and the provisions contained in the Bill will assist in making this approach work. The noble Baroness raised two other issues in her opening remarks. First, as regards the confidentiality of mediation processes. mediation is expected to be confidential. Views expressed in mediation would not subsequently be introduced into court proceedings. Secondly, she asked how intensive monitoring would be. The intensity of monitoring would depend upon the circumstances, but it could sometimes be as simple as a telephone call to the parties to check that contact has taken place. On other occasions it would be much more intensive, depending upon the circumstances of the case. This new section also enables the court to order CAFCASS to report to the court when monitoring reveals that there has been a breach of the order. The court will then have the option of re-listing the case for a directions hearing so that a way forward regarding the issues relating to the breach may be determined. This provision ensures that the court has the option of keeping an eye on compliance with a contact order and of bringing the parties back to court where necessary. This will be of considerable help to both the courts and the parties concerned. The facility for the court to order monitoring of compliance with a contact order is an important part of the provisions of the Bill.