Letter from Ruth Kelly Minister of State for Children.

Dear Mr Deuchars

Thank you for your email dated 17 January addressed to the Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP and your email dated 3 February addressed to the Ruth Kelly about filling the gap in the protection of children. I am sure you will appreciate that both the Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families and Ruth Kelly receive a vast amount of correspondence and are unable to reply to each one personally. It is for this reason I have been asked to reply.
The Government recognises and values the important role which grandparents can play in children’s lives. Many grandparents are already involved with the care of their grandchildren and most children see their grandparents as important figures in their lives. However, the primary responsibility for bringing up children in most families lies with their parents and there may be cases where parents prefer to limit contact with grandparents. Under the Children Act 1989 (the Act) grandparents may, provided that the permission of the court is obtained, apply to the court for an order granting contact (or residence) with the child concerned. The requirement for the court’s permission is not designed to be an obstacle to grandparents or other close relatives but to act as an initial filter to sift out prejudiced applications that are unlikely to succeed. Experience suggests that gran dparents (or other interested relatives) would not usually experience difficulty in obtaining permission where their application is motivated by a genuine concern for the child. While grandparents may seek the leave of the court to apply for contact, it is usually a more fruitful route for parents and grandparents to work cooperatively to ensure that children have ongoing contact where it is in their best interests.

The court will make a residence or contact order if it decides, in the light of all the circumstances of the case, that it is in the child’s best interests to live with or to have contact with the applicant. The Act requires that the court’s paramount consideration must be the welfare of the child. Judges are guided by a list of factors set out in section 1(3) of the Act, known as the ‘welfare checklist’. The Act gives the court the discretion to take into consideration all the facts and circumstances of the individual case when deciding any question concerning the child including issues of contact and residence.

The Government is aware that there are concerns that grandparents who are denied contact with their grandchildren are unable to seek adequate redress through the courts. This issue was raised during debates on the Bill stages of the Children and Adoption Act 2006 and the Government announced then a review of the requirement in private law cases that leave of the court must first be sought before applying for contact, where it relates to grandparents. The Government want to assess if it is the case that the leave requirement acts as a barrier to grandparents denied contact and if they are unable to seek redress through the courts.

The Government consulted on this issue in 2007. Responses were received from the President of the Family Division, the Family Law Bar Association (FLBA), National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS), the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), the Grandparents Action Group and the Coalition for Equal Parenting. Responses showed that there is no widespread support for a change to the law that would remove the requirement for leave of the court to be sought by grandparents before making an application for contact.

We know that in the past, when a child could not be cared for by their parents, local authorities didn’t always consider the possibility of the child being cared for by their extended family.

The Children Act 1989 addressed this by making it a legal duty for the local authority placing a child to arrange for the child to live with a member of his or her family unless that would be impractical or inconsistent with the child’s welfare.

Building on this, the Care Matters White Paper, supported by the Children and Young Persons Act, includes a range of measures intended to provide a more visible and strengthened framework for supporting relatives caring for children who cannot be looked after by their parents. The Act includes measures making it easier for relatives to apply for residence or special guardianship orders, so supporting more stable placement of children with their family. It also contains provisions to allow more families to be supported financially outside the care system. We intend to publish statutory guidance which will address current concerns about the transparency of local authority policies on the support available for relative carers. The guidance will set out expectations of an effective service to support relative carers and children.

The evidence points to care by family and friends being the best approach for many children who cannot be looked after by their birth parents and we want to recognise fully the contribution family and friends carers make to the life chances of vulnerable children.


Yours sincerely


Anita Dixon
Public Communications Unit
www.dcsf.gov.uk



Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2009/0004883. To correspond by email with the Department for Children, Schools and Families please contact info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk.