Children, Schools and Families Bill

The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point, which is why I hesitate as I reply to him. I want to consider further whether the proposal should be in the Bill. I do not object to it in principle, but I want to think about whether it needs to be on the face of the Bill, or whether it would be more appropriate to leave it to take effect through other procedures. I appreciate what the hon. Gentleman is saying, and I want to go as far as I can to allay concerns about what the review can and cannot do. That is partly why we suggest that the Justice Committee would play such an important role in setting out what the review can cover. It is important that the review should be seen by all concerned as entirely independent and robustly conducted. If it were to conclude that the second part should not go forward in its present form, that view would be taken very seriously. I hope that that gives the hon. Gentleman some comfort. Government amendment 112 does not need a great deal of explanation. It subjects the Lord Chancellor's power to amend the definition of "relevant family proceedings" to the affirmative resolution procedure, so that the amending instrument may not be made without the prior approval of both Houses of Parliament. I hope that that allays some of hon. Members' concerns in that regard. The purpose of that power is to ensure that we can respond flexibly and promptly should there be any subsequent legislative changes in the way that court proceedings are classified, so that the appropriate range of proceedings will continue to be covered. For example, "family proceedings" can be proceedings under part 5 of the Children Act 1989 dealing with child minding and nursery care regulations. Let me explain why I cannot accept the amendments tabled by the hon. Member for North-West Norfolk. It is partly because our amendments already address the concerns that have been raised—certainly those about the nature of the review, the move to phase 2, the Lord Chancellor's power to amend the definition of "family proceedings" and the clarity of identifying information. We have covered all those issues fairly comprehensively. I will start by making a more negative point: I have concerns about his call for a limit on the publication of financial information, which I think is misplaced. I do not believe that he or other Members on the Opposition Front Bench suggest that the need to protect information about a parent's finances is of greater consequence than the need to protect information about the children involved, but there are sufficient safeguards in place already, as the courts can decide whether it is appropriate to protect such information. Amendments 30 and 91 would derail the provisions that will introduce phase 2 of the Bill. I have already explained that the move to phase 2 is not a given, because the independent review, the parliamentary scrutiny that will follow, including the affirmative resolution procedure, are robust enough to ensure that whether phase 2 becomes a reality will be entirely dependent on independent scrutiny. Let me address the point that the hon. Gentleman made about uncontested adoption proceedings. They are not covered in the Bill, but I accept the tenor of his comments about such proceedings. I think that new clause 8 would backfire, because it would remove the Bill's protection from some of the proceedings that will be protected, and would not cover some of the things that he wants it to cover, but I would like to look at it again to make sure. I have some sympathy with him regarding the necessity of media scrutiny of entirely uncontested adoption proceedings. However, we do not, in the Bill, allow the media in to the final part of adoption proceedings. The changes are important to the families who use the courts, and particularly to the children who rely on them. They are important to those who take the decisions that will keep children safe and also to the public, who have had doubts about some of the courts' actions and have called into question the effectiveness of the family justice system as a whole. That is why the changes are overdue. Clearly, we all agree that the family justice system should be more transparent and open. I believe that the amendments that the Government have now tabled offer the best way forward. They offer a balanced approach to change and safeguards for the families involved, and give family courts a chance to shake off the allegations of secrecy. They mean that justice has a chance to be done and—it may be a cliché, but in this case it is an important principle—to be seen to be done. I therefore ask the House to support the Government amendments. I hope that the other amendments will be withdrawn; otherwise, I will have to ask the House to reject them.