Children and Adoption Bill [Lords]

New clause 18 stands in my name and in those of the hon. Members for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke) and for Ceredigion (Mark Williams). New clause 19 also stands in my name. Debate on the Bill, in this House and outside, has largely been polarised around two issues and two groups of people. One group is keen to prevent an obstructive parent from stopping the other parent having contact with the child, while the other is worried about domestic violence and abuse being insufficiently recognised in court proceedings to make a parent allow contact between the child in their care and the parent who is not resident with the child. In new clause 18, I attempt to rise above those polarised points of view and say that there is merit in both arguments, but not in one to the exclusion of the other. I hit upon the idea that if the Bill were to have statutory objectives added to it, we might be able to reach an agreed solution. Sadly, it seems that I have fallen between the two stools, and neither have I attracted the support of the Minister. However, I will explain why I think that it is a good approach. Statutory objectives are quite rare, but they have been seen to work in other areas of the law. A good example from a completely different area is that of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which has four statutory objectives in regulating the Financial Services Authority. That authority has been able to adopt a risk-based approach to regulation that has been beneficial for this country’s financial services sector, which is probably the most successful in the world. I decided that in trying to resolve disputes about contact with children, the courts, CAFCASS officers and those in the Welsh service who deal with preparing court cases involving parents who are in dispute, and the legal representatives of those who want to go to court, should all have regard to four statutory objectives, namely:"““(a) the welfare of the child;""(b) reduction of the risk of harm;""(c) reasonable contact; and""(d) post separation parenting.””" As the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) said, the first—the welfare of the child—comes from the Children Act 1989. That is a successful measure, which has stood the test of time. Its aims of putting children’s interests first have been successful. Section 1 states that"““the child’s welfare shall be the court’s paramount consideration.””" Nothing should interfere with that resounding statement that children’s interests come first. The polarised arguments about preventing obstructive parents from getting in the way of contact in, for example, new clause 4, try to solve the problem by attacking the paramountcy of the child’s welfare. New clause 4 would force the court to presume that the child’s welfare includes so-called co-parenting. That is far too narrow. Section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989 contains a welfare checklist, which sets out all the issues that courts should take into account when deciding what is in the child’s best interests. They include all the relevant matters that the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham set out for our consideration.