Family Justice

: The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. That has been the experience of many of us in dealing with constituents, in addition to what we know of some of the more public cases. In that and in other respects we must deal with the matter without creating new problems or worsening existing problems in the process. As I develop my argument, it will become clear that there is a difficult balance to be achieved. We are dealing with human issues that affect our constituents. We strongly supported shared parenting agreements and the extension of that approach into court settlements. We did not accept that there could be a pre-determined statutory template for the division of time that a child should spend with each parent, because that would put the child's welfare and wishes into a secondary position. We said that the amount of contact that a child would want might vary during their childhood. We also recommended a change in the law to give grandparents the right to apply to the courts without having to apply for permission, in recognition of their potential value to the child of their support. We considered delay in the courts, which is of particular concern in cases that involve children. A long period without contact as a result of delay can lead to a situation in which the court no longer believes that it is in the child's best interest to resume contact. Delay can change the status quo that the courts must deal with.