Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions she has had with (a) judicial and (b) safeguarding bodies on improvements to child protection in private law family proceedings.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Family Justice Board, which is co-chaired by ministers from the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education and is regularly attended by the President of the Family Division, the Chief Executives of Cafcass and Cafcass Cymru, the Chief Social Worker, and Ofsted, monitors performance across the family justice system and considers relevant strategic issues, including safeguarding of children in family proceedings. At the March meeting, the Board discussed findings from the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s report on intra-familial child sexual abuse.
The Board also plays a role in the delivery of key priorities aimed at improving outcomes for children and families such as the Pathfinder private law model, now operating in six court areas. Pathfinder was designed in collaboration with the judiciary and safeguarding partners and aims to improve the experience and outcomes for children and parents involved in private family law proceedings, including those who have experienced domestic abuse.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of safeguards in preventing harm to children during court-ordered contact arrangements.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice recognises the importance of safeguarding children during court-ordered contact arrangements.
The legislation which governs child arrangements cases makes a child’s welfare paramount and presumes a child’s welfare is furthered by the involvement of both parents, unless there is evidence of a risk of harm. Following the recommendation from the ‘Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases’ report, the Ministry of Justice has carried out a thorough review of the presumption of parental involvement, which will be published shortly.
Where an individual believes that a wrong decision or an unjust decision (due to serious procedural or other irregularity in the proceedings in the lower court) has been made by the courts, there are routes of appeal and individuals can apply to have a Child Arrangements Order varied or discharged.
In some cases, to ensure children’s safety, courts order contact at Child Contact Centres. These are primarily accredited centres run by the National Association of Child Contact Centres, which operate under rigorous safeguarding standards. These include secure premises with controlled access, trained staff present during supervised contact, and comprehensive risk assessments tailored to each family's circumstances.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to review the statutory guidance on civil parking enforcement to strengthen protections for (a) disabled people, (b) children and (c) other vulnerable patients.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has no plans to review the statutory guidance on civil parking enforcement. There is already a duty for public authorities to promote equality under the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that the needs of people with protected characteristics are met. The Department for Transport encourages local authorities to consult with representatives of various user groups, such as local disability groups, to help inform the design of local streets.
Local authorities are not only responsible for providing disabled parking facilities, but for enforcing the parking restrictions which they have put in place using their civil parking enforcement powers.