Children Webmag - APPG News

The All Party Parliamentary Group
for Children

by Alison Linsey

A REPORT

On 23 May the APPGC held a joint meeting with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic Violence on the Children and Adoption Bill.

The Children and Adoption Bill was published on 13 June. It takes forward measures in the Green Paper Parental Separation: Children’s Needs and Parents’ Responsibilities and from the Draft Children (Contact) and Intercountry Adoption Bill that was given pre-legislative scrutiny in the last session of Parliament. The report on the Draft Bill and the Government’s response can be found at: http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/jcdccab.cfm

The Bill gives the courts new powers to promote contact and enforce contact orders made under the Children Act 1989. This could include a parent taking part in a 'contact activity’, for example attending information sessions, counselling, parenting programmes or classes, or other activities designed to deal with contact disputes. Where a contact order has been breached, courts will be able to impose community-based 'enforcement orders' for unpaid work, or award financial compensation from one party to another (for example where the cost of a holiday has been lost). The Bill also includes provisions on inter-country adoption.

The joint All Party Group meeting concentrated on the contact provisions in the Bill, and in particular on how to make contact safe where there are issues of domestic violence. The meeting heard from Women’s Aid and Barnardo’s about their concerns with regard to the Bill. They support the recommendations made by the Joint Committee who scrutinised the draft Bill, that before ordering a contact activity or making an enforcement order the court should consider the safety implications for each parents and the child. An order should not then be made unless it is safe to do so.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Maria Eagle MP, made a short presentation and took part in a question and answer session. She highlighted the Children Act 1989 welfare checklist, the extension of the definition of harm to include “impairment due to seeing or hearing ill-treatment of another” and the new family court application forms (gateway forms).

Future meetings

The Officers of the APPGC have decided the remit of the Group’s work programme for the forthcoming year. The Group will, as usual, hold meetings focused on legislation relevant to children, for example on the Children and Adoption Bill, Education Bill etc. The remainder of the Group’s focus will mainly be on the implementation of Every Child Matters and the Children Act 2004. This will include hearing from the new Children’s Commissioner for England, Professor Al Aynsley-Green; development of children’s trusts; progress on information sharing etc. The APPGC will also hold three topic based meetings, one on each of the following subjects: children’s rights in practice, child health, and youth justice.

Parliament is now in recess until 10 October, and no meetings will be held until after that date.

Please contact Alison Linsey, Clerk to the Group (email: alinsey@ncb.org.uk):

• To be added to the email mailing list to receive minutes and notices of meetings
• For copies of minutes from any of the meetings
• For a free copy of the Group’s report ‘Commitment to Children’
• For any further information about the Group