Children, Schools and Families Bill

At the outset I must declare an interest, in that I have been a family law barrister for 12 years, although I have not practised for several years. It has taken me even longer than the Minister to speak on this part of the Bill, and I suspect that my experience is unusual, as I have had more influence by not saying anything than would have been the case if I had spoken. I appreciate and acknowledge what the Minister has done in trying to address some of our amendments, and we welcome the concessions that the Government have made. I am glad that our amendments have been taken seriously and given the attention and respect that they deserve. Nevertheless, it is clear even from this short debate that this part of the Bill is beginning to unravel even further from its initial presentation. I want to make it clear that Opposition Members are in exactly the same position as the Government—and I am sure other parties—when it comes to considering the family court system. The Justice Secretary said that his objective in going through this exercise was""to build a transparent, accountable family justice system which inspires the confidence of the people it serves, while continuing to protect the privacy of the parties and children involved."" I do not think that any of us could argue against that as a starting position for thinking about how we can give the public more confidence in the family justice system, which is so important to so many people. From that starting premise, the Government have made a number of welcome moves over several years. However, I was not sure whether the Minister thought that the new rules introduced in April 2009 were a success or not, given that, after an initial burst of activity, no one from the media seems to have shown much interest in the family courts. What we do know is that the major reform in the Bill should be given proper and careful consideration, rather than being rushed through. I agree with the pithy but important contribution from the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws), who speaks for the Liberal Democrats. He said that we could not discuss such a fundamental sea change to family justice in such a short debate, lasting just an hour and a half on the Floor of the House, and still be confident that it would play out on the ground and in the courts as we intend. As my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Norfolk (Mr. Bellingham) said at the beginning of his speech, it is perhaps even more illuminating that we have managed to find ourselves in an unenviable position today, with even those who advocate full transparency for family courts saying that the legislation could end up doing more harm than good. I am not here to defend the family courts. I recognise that many people who have been exposed to the system come away from it extremely disappointed and frustrated by what they have had to go through. However, when we think about opening up the family courts, we cannot and must not put the interests and welfare of children anywhere but at the top of the list. The Government's hope and expectation is that the interests and welfare of children who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in the family courts system will remain at the heart of this part of the Bill. However, voices from all sides are telling the Government that there is still great concern that the involvement of the media in their cases will make children less, rather than more, willing to disclose problems and talk to professionals. The danger is that judges will have to make decisions in cases without having the full facts and evidence before them. I am sure that that is not what the Minister, or anyone else in the House, would want to happen. Will the Minister spend a little more time considering our new clause 7? When the Government sent round the letter telling us what their amendments would be, they prayed in aid the fact that many of the amendments were being introduced because members of the judiciary and other bodies, and particularly the president of the family division, had expressed concerns about aspects of the Bill, and that the Minister had, rightly, listened carefully to what he had to say. We know from his oral evidence and his written evidence to the Public Bill Committee that Sir Mark Potter has grave concerns that unless there is a provision such as we set out in new clause 7, whereby the publication of any case through the media could not take place until the judgment, a case may be reported in a local or national newspaper in a way that gives a completely different version of events from what has been played out across the whole case from start to finish. The media could give a skewed account that did not reflect the facts of the case as they played out. I ask the Minister to look at that aspect again. She clearly believes that the views of the president of the family division are worth listening to. The Opposition have tried to be constructive. I am delighted that the Government have taken on board a number of the amendments that we tabled—for example, on how involvement in the relevant proceedings are defined in clause 41. In some instances the Government could have agreed to our amendments as drafted, but they felt it necessary to rewrite them in almost exactly the same way, with the same meaning. Perhaps I should take that as a compliment. Why can the Minister not accept new clause 2? In the debate this evening we learned far more about the Government's position and the thinking behind the independent review. It appears that all the elements that we included in new clause 2—the anonymised judgments and the assessment and evaluation of the new rules introduced in April 2009—are very much in her mind as well. I ask her to be brave, to listen—as she has done, to her enormous credit—to the information that we have been giving her about our concerns, and to think carefully about why we should wait any longer for new clause 2 to become part of her Bill, as well as of our Bill.