Children and Adoption Bill [Lords]

I thank the Minister for his detailed and measured reply. He did not take part in our deliberations in Committee, but it is clear from his response that he has taken a great deal of time to go through what was said, and we very much appreciate that. He has made a few points that are worthy of comment. He said that two thirds of those who did not contest their divorce proceedings in court were content with the arrangements that they had. Perhaps that was because they were worried about the process that they might be exposed to if they were to go to court. Equally, however, that must mean that one third were not content. One lesson that we can all take from the debate today is that an enormous number of people out there are not being well served by the existing legislation. They do not have the financial resources to go to court when their relationship breaks down, but they still want to do the best thing for their family. At the moment, however, precious little is being done to support them in that regard, and we should all be most concerned about that. We are all aware of such cases through our constituency work. I agree that we should keep people out of the courts. Having been to a family court myself, as I mentioned earlier, I know that it is not a place that I would want anyone to visit if that could be avoided. I hope that, with that in mind, the Minister will be able to support the amendment on mediation, which we shall come to later. We would like to increase the role of mediation in the process. We do not want to make it mandatory, but we would like it to be part of the process. At the moment, too many people are not offered mediation as an option. I hope that the Minister will also acknowledge the importance of minimising delay in the process. We should not allow risk assessments to form a logjam in the divorce or separation process. Equally, they should not divert CAFCASS’s scarce resources, which will become even scarcer, given the additional provisions in the Bill. Its resources should be used correctly. The Minister said that we might be setting the bar too high in regard to risk assessments. I would like him to consider that, if we set the bar too low, the people who decide whether a risk assessment should be made might feel compelled to undertake them even when the evidence was not as strong as it might be. This can work both ways; we need to be aware that it is a two-way street. We are putting extra burdens on the people involved in making decisions on risk assessments by making the threshold lower than it ought to be. I note that the Minister did not respond to my point about non-resident parents losing contact, or to my request for more reassurance on the figures involved. That point was reiterated by my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mr. Jackson). If we had a better perspective on how many people were involved in losing contact with their children, we would all be better placed to assess whether new clauses such as this were needed. I urge the Minister to consider that point carefully.