Private Law Proceedings: Child Safety

22 Apr

Question

The session revolves around ensuring child safety in private law proceedings. Mr. Will Forster highlights concerns about child safety potentially being compromised by current court procedures, referencing past reports criticizing the system. He urges action on the governmental level to rectify this. Alex Davies-Jones presents the government's initiatives, emphasizing the importance of the child's welfare, the use of pathfinder pilot courts, and reviewing the parental presumption. The session examines these themes critically, assessing current practices and potential changes.

Outcome

The session resulted in a commitment from the Minister, Alex Davies-Jones, to review the presumption of parental involvement, focusing on child safety. The discourse underscored the pathfinder pilot courts as an innovative approach to addressing existing issues.

Key Contributions

Mr. Will Forster

Liberal Democrats

Highlighted the crisis in family courts as mentioned in a previous harm panel report.

Alex Davies-JonesMinister

Emphasized that child welfare is the paramount consideration in family courts, per the Children Act.

Original Transcript

Mr Will Forster

Woking

Question

UIN: 903769

13. What steps her Department is taking to ensure child safety during private law proceedings.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

Alex Davies-Jones

The welfare of the child must be the paramount consideration for family courts, which should follow the welfare checklist, as set out in the Children Act 1989.

Our new approach to private law proceedings—the pathfinder pilot courts—focuses on problem solving, putting greater emphasis on the voice of the child, but we are acutely aware that more needs to be done.

Mr Forster

The previous Government’s harm panel report stated that there is a crisis in family courts and that they are too pro-parental contact, despite there being concerns about the child’s safety. As with many things under the previous Government, the Conservatives did nothing about the report.

Will this Government and the Minister commit to reversing the parental presumption where there are concerns about child abuse?

Alex Davies-Jones

15:05

As I have stated, the child’s welfare must be the court’s paramount consideration. The presumption of parental involvement states that a court should “presume, unless the contrary is shown, that involvement of that parent in the life of the child will further the child’s welfare.

” I take this opportunity to state, however, that that applies only if the parent does not put the child at risk of harm. We will publish our review of the presumption in due course.

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