Committee attacks parent tagging plans
A committee of MPs and peers is recommending that proposals to tag parents who ignore contact orders should be dropped.
The option is part of a package of measures contained in the draft Children and Adoption Bill to address the issues surrounding child contact after divorce.
However, a report released today by the Joint Committee on the Draft Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill calls electronic tagging of parents “disproportionate”.
Instead, the committee members recommends a ‘time and place’ requirement to be included in the bill to ensure court orders function.
This would see parents required to turn up at an agreed location at an agreed time to allow contact to take place.
“Our proposed ‘time and place’ requirement would give family courts a flexible power to ensure that the arrangements set out in the court’s original contact order were not frustrated,” said committee chairman Clive Soley.
“The requirement would contain a clear warning that continued disregard for the order would lead swiftly to enforcement action.”
The committee’s report also makes recommendations about mediation, the importance for the child of sustaining a relationship with the non-resident parent and the establishment of an inter-country adoption agency.
