Children and Adoption Bill [HL]

My Lords, I shall not repeat what I said in our previous discussions on presumption. I firmly believe that the paramountcy principle must be crystal clear within the Children Act. In moving their amendments I know that noble Lords do not seek to dilute that, but it is quite clear that that would happen. So it is very difficult for the Government to say anything other than that they cannot accept the move in that direction. It is absolutely clear to us that a child’s interests must come first. Noble Lords have focused heavily, for very good reasons, on issues of violence, and will probably know that the NSPCC has indicated its strong opposition to the presumption of reasonable contact. The noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, is an ambassador for the NSPCC. It believes that the problems identified in the report, to which the noble Earl referred, would deepen if shared contact were observed to be prioritised over the risk of domestic violence. The NSPCC has made a statement, of which I shall ensure noble Lords have sight, to explain its reasons for doing that. We shall consider the important issue of domestic violence and the role of CAFCASS and we welcome the amendments that will be tabled—I do not want to say too much. We start from the principle that the child’s interests must come first. I would be as appalled as the noble Earl if, because a dad lost a sock or fed the children a Chinese takeaway or whatever, the courts did anything other than dismiss any claim.