Holidays & Fairs

Due to holidays, weddings, BBQs, Festivals etc and a get fit campaign I have neglected my blog and emails for the last 6 weeks or so. Sorry, it's a bit late now for this year but Nick Woodall of the Centre For Separated Families sent me a link to a mailing offering separated parents tips on coping with the summer holidays. It's worth a read and bearing in mind for the next school holiday.

Also Suzy Miller of the Starting Over Show has left a comment on this post and the next Starting Over Show which focuses on starting over and rebuilding healthy lives after divorce will be in London on 7 March and Brighton 28 March 2010. This will provide an opportunity to get free legal, financial and life coaching advice.

Read more...

Brandon Muir: Government Press Release

Following on from the previous post Scottish Children's Minister Adam Ingram has requested that copies of the reviews on the death of Brandon Muir are circulated to all of Scotland’s child protection committees to ensure that the recommendations and lessons were shared with all child protection agencies and staff. Calls for the Scottish Government to legislate to ensure that more children are taken into care, and sooner, to prevent them being put at risk were rejected by Mr Ingram. Legislating for every eventuality would be an impossible task he said.

Scottish Government Ministers also announced that:

* All national recommendations from today's reports will be taken forward as part of the national review of child protection guidance which is already underway and which will be published next year

* A new national child protection co-ordinator is to be appointed to work with the country's 30 child protection committees to drive up standards of care and support for vulnerable children. The expert will be tasked with working with local authorities to implement and embed best practice on child protection, building stronger local professional networks and improving joint working between areas

* The UK's first hub of child protection expertise - the Multi-Agency Resource Service (MARS) - has now begun its work at the University of Stirling, helping Scottish local authorities and their partners work through complex child protection cases and provide enhanced support for professionals in this field to better safeguard the needs of children at risk

* The Scottish Government is in the process of establishing a new national Modernising Community Nursing Board to support NHS Boards in improving the quality of community nursing services. This will help address the national recommendation relating to community nursing

Full Press Release Source Scottish Government 19 August 2009

Read more...

Brandon Muir: Independent Review

An independent review into the death of Dundee toddler Brandon Muir released yesterday has identified weaknesses in the way the authorities attempted to safeguard him from harm. The two-part review consisted of an independent inquiry into the events leading up to Brandon’s death, conducted by former Chief Constable of Fife Constabulary Peter Wilson, and a significant case review undertaken by independent social work consultant Jimmy Hawthorn.

Key points in the final days of Brandon;

• Brandon Muir and his sibling had been living with their mother at the home of her parents in Charleston for almost four months up until the point when Heather Boyd established a relationship with Robert Cunningham and moved back with him to her flat in Douglas. She removed Brandon from her parents’ home to live with her and Cunningham on 26 February and his sibling on 1 March 2008.

• The grandparents immediately raised their concerns with Social Work.

• Social Workers who had a previous knowledge of Heather and her children through her office appointment in November 2007 and her attendance at the Family Support Centre, became concerned about her change of attitude, and convened an urgent meeting of child protection partners. (28th February 2008)

• The meeting concluded that an urgent case conference should be convened (set for 18th March 2008), but that there were no immediate grounds for removing the children at that time. There were a number of contacts and visits to the family by social work and health professionals in the intervening period, and Brandon was voluntarily brought by his mother to have his gait checked by the family GP. No significant medical concerns were identified or recorded.

• Brandon Muir died on 16th March 2008 following a violent assault by Robert Cunningham.

• The Review concludes that the assault on Brandon Muir by Robert Cunningham which proved to be fatal, could not have been predicted, and that in the short period when Brandon was living with his mother and Robert Cunningham there was little opportunity for the authorities to prevent the fatal assault on Brandon.

• Although it later became known that H had been taking drugs and had been involved in prostitution, this had never come to the attention of any of the agencies she was involved with.

The Review found that professionals involved had quickly responded to the emerging risk to the family as it was known, and had initiated appropriate steps to consider their needs. However, it was revealed that there were a number of factors affecting the leadership, resourcing, and practice of child protection in Dundee at that time. Some of these matters were identified and addressed as a result of early internal review work, others have been identified and addressed in consequence of the Joint Inspection of Child Protection in Dundee. A number of recommendations and observations were made aimed at further strengthening the child protection arrangements.

Full Review (pdf) Source Dundee Children and Young Persons Protection Committee 19 August 2009

Read more...

Mothers Want to Work Less

The Department for Children, Schools and Families have commissioned another study by the National Centre for Social Research providing detailed information about mothers' experiences of, and attitudes towards working.

64% of mothers are in employment with more than a quarter working full-time but according The Scotsman most women want to work less or quit their job to look after children. 65 % say they have to work because they need the money.

Somewhere else it was reported that the research found women with partners work more than single mothers. That doesn't surprise me if they are doing the majority of child care on their own.

Read more...

Proposed Overhaul of Family Law

Today a major new report "Every Family Matters" was published by the Centre for Social Justice, the think-tank set up by the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, which has had a major bearing on David Cameron’s social policy-making. The report claims the recommendations are a "far-reaching overhaul of the law [in England & Wales] aimed at putting marriage at the heart of family life." Key points include;

Divorce
▪ Discussing no-fault divorce is a low priority in contrast to other family law reforms.

▪ Creation of a three month period of reflection and consideration at the outset of the divorce process, which would now be commenced only by a short written notice without any allegations.

▪ Parties should be able to petition jointly under existing law Decree absolute of divorce should be capable of being applied for after four weeks from the decree nisi, instead of the present time periods.

Cohabitation
▪ For the different reasons, we do not consider that it is appropriate to make any proposals for cohabitation law reform at this time.

▪ We oppose the present Private Members’ Bill on the basis that it provides very similar rights to marriage.

Information Provision
▪ There should be information provision before the commencement of family law proceedings.

Alternative Dispute Resolution
▪ Binding family law arbitration should be introduced.

▪ There should be mandatory attempts at resolution of children disputes before the issue of proceedings.

Legal Aid
▪ Government should clearly place on record that access to justice, like education, health care and other front-line services, is an essential facet of any civilised society.

▪ The legal aid system must attract and retain specialist practitioners in all areas of family law.

Contact
▪ An amendment to the Children Act 1989 to include explicit principles of contact and residence, incorporating equal status of those with parental responsibility and the benefit to the children of both parents having a significant involvement in their lives, with the welfare of the child remaining the paramount consideration.

Relocation
▪ A change in the law regarding relocation such that an amendment to the Children Act would apply in such cases, to take better account of the changed patterns of parenting, the considerable impact on the child of relocation away from home and other home environment features and wider family members, yet taking account of the increased movement of families.

Grandparents
▪ Grandparents should be placed in a distinctive legal position.

Ancillary Relief
▪ Marital assets are all assets acquired by the parties solely or jointly during the marriage and any pre-marital cohabitation whether through passive growth or active acquisition.

▪ In conducting its fairness exercise on distribution of marital assets and non-marital assets, the court shall follow as binding any marital agreement of the parties.

▪ The marital assets, including illiquid assets, shall be divided equally between the spouses unless there is a good reason not to do so.

▪ The family courts shall have power to make child maintenance orders where both parties are not in receipt of or claiming welfare benefits and the court is making other orders between them concerning income or capital and in any event where are arrears of more than 6 months.

▪ Spousal maintenance shall continue to end automatically on remarriage but should be reduced to a nominal maintenance order after periods of six months’ cohabitation.

Full Report Source Centre for Social Justice 14 July 2009

Read more...

Risk Adverse Parents Fail Their Children

The head teacher of an independent school in Scotland is quoted in The Scotsman today as saying parents have become risk adverse. "Childhood has never been risk-free. But if we succumb to our fears, our children may end up ill-equipped to live successfully in adulthood." Rod Grant, of Clifton Hall independent school says.

I think this particularly applies to children of separated families when parents engage in battles damaging the child's view of relationships with the opposite sex. How many times do we hear of anxieties about the standard of care the children receive from the other parent when it was never questioned before the family breakdown? Sometimes it might be alcoholism or the misuse of drugs, other times there are concerns that a parent is inexperienced or it is unsuitable to introduce a new partner. There may be an element of truth in these allegations but in all but the most exceptional cases the potential for damaging children from parental conflict is far greater.

Read more...

Backwards Britain

Interesting comment by Johann Hari today about why the Tories' policy to mend "Britain's broken society" is a backwards step. The policy relies heavily on sociological research findings that children from broken homes or single parent families are more likely to have poor educational and behavioural outcomes than children whose parents stay together. However, a new study by Professor Kelly Musick and Dr Ann Meier of Cornell University into children whose parents stay together in disharmony for the sake of the children has shown the children do worse than any other group. Thus the Tories' policies to keep families together would actually increase the numbers of children in the worst performing category.

At the same time David Cameron is committed to pulling Britain out of the European Social Chapter which means rights for part-time workers will be eroded, leading to lots of stressed out parents having less time to spend with their children. Also the Married Couples Allowance would be a big redistribution of wealth to people who don't need it, paid for by cutting Tax Credits to SureStart to the Educational Maintenance Allowance to the poorest people who do.

Full article Source The Independent 26 June 2009

Read more...

At-risk Children Left in Danger

On Tuesday a report by HM Inspectorate of Education on Dundee's children's services brought forward after the killing of toddler Brandon Muir says child protection there was unsatisfactory. Social workers had been alerted to concerns over Brandon before he was killed by his mother's drug addict boyfriend, Robert Cunningham, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The damning report highlighted the failures of the Council, the police, heath services and court officials in Dundee to protect vulnerable children from "significant harm" in the homes of drug addicts and alcoholics.

Full article Source The Scotsman 24 June 2009

Read more...

Public Petitions Blog

New social media has been introduced by the Public Petitions Committee at the Scottish Parliament, as part of the petitions process. The public petitions process is a key part of the Scottish Parliament's commitment to participation, openness and accessibility. It allows individuals, community groups and organisations to raise issues of concern with the Parliament and now petitioners will be able to provide videos and photos about their petitions as part of the committee’s new blog page.

Past petitions include;

PE589 Mr George McAulay, on behalf of the UK Men's Movement.

Petition calling for the Scottish Parliament to take the necessary steps to recognise Parental Alienation Syndrome and to develop early intervention strategies to prevent parental alienation.


PE624 Ms Ann Mallaby, on behalf of the Women's Land Reform Group

Petition calling for the Scottish Parliament to take the necessary steps to introduce new legislation into matrimonial law to address the alleged violation of women's land rights and farm business in cases of divorce.


PE944 Gary Strachan

Petition calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to (a) investigate why there is no presumption of equal access/residence for children with both parents after separation in Scottish law; (b) investigate bias against fathers as equal parents in the Scottish Court System; (c) investigate why contact orders are not enforced and (d) investigate why parental responsibilities and rights are ignored by the medical, welfare and governmental institutions to the detriment of children


PE997 Peter Cox, on behalf of the Mothers for Justice Campaign

Petition calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to provide greater protection to the children and partners of abusive parents by introducing legislation to ensure that (a) where an allegation of abuse has been made against a parent, access rights are suspended pending a full investigation; (b) all previous convictions of an abusive parent are taken into account before access rights are granted; (c) all access hearings are held in open court; and (d) all sheriffs who deal with child custody cases are given appropriate training.


PE1051 Jimmy Deuchars, on behalf of Grandparents Apart Self Help Group Scotland

Petition calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive to make the Charter for Grandchildren legally binding ensuring that the rights of children are recognised by all public agencies and families, and enforced by law.


PE1247 Stewart Mackenzie

Open petition calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce a McKenzie Friend facility in Scottish courts as a matter of urgency. (See this earlier post)

Read more...

Contact Non Compliance: 3 Month Sentence

According to The Scotsman a woman has failed in her appeal against a three month sentence she claimed was "harsh and oppressive."
Tina Monem, 26, failed to comply with a contact order to make her child available for six hours contact a week after her allegations against the father were found to be unsubstantiated. The sheriff held her in contempt although it seems sentencing was delayed to see whether new contact arrangements would be successful. A three month sentence was then handed down and the mother was released after a few days pending the appeal.

Three judges in the Court of Session ordered Tina Monem to return to prison to complete the sentence and found she had committed contempt against them too. Lord Gill, the Lord Justice-Clerk, speaking on behalf of the appeal court, said the mother was to be given the opportunity to "reflect on the gravity of her conduct and to desist from it" and sentence for the contempt of the appeal court was deferred for six months.

Full story Source The Scotsman 6 June 2009

Read more...

A Child's Wishes

In the recent English Court of Appeal case R (A Child) [2009] EWCA Civ 445 a mother appealed against a residence order in favour of the father. A brief history of the case was the parents had separated in 2001 after a relationship of about three years when the child was nearly two. The father had remarried and the child lived with the mother. In 2008 the mother was suffering from drink problem brought on by the suicide of a good friend and approached the father for help as she felt she could not cope. It was agreed that the son should live with the father given the mother’s problems. Shortly after wards the father applied for residence which was granted despite a CAFCASS report recommending that the child should live with the mother.

The mother appealed on the basis that the judge i) had lost impartiality in questioning the mother; ii) erred in his treatment of the child’s wishes and iii) had been wrong to reject the CAFCASS recommendation. All three judges agreed point i) that the judge had not put any pressure on the mother with his questioning.

There was dissent between the judges on point ii) and iii). Wall LJ said "He [the judge] was in my judgment correct to treat the wishes as but one of the several checklist factors to which he had to have regard and he properly went through the checklist. " He went on to say the CAFCASS officers recommendation “on balance, I think L should return to live with his mother” was not strong and the "judge was well able to conduct his own evaluation of the relevant consideration."

This was countered by Rix LJ:

"in my judgment, he [the judge] has erred in more than the balancing of the weight of various check-list factors. He has erred essentially, in setting on one side the firm evidence of the child’s own wishes, and in rejecting the CAFCASS reporter’s own clear recommendation, in favour of a return to residence with the mother, together with the reasons given for both. He has not done so because of any new evidence or of a reasoned challenge to the opinion of Dr Cochrane [CAFCASS officer]. He has simply critically discounted the child’s wishes, and essentially ignored Dr Cochrane’s recommendations and conclusions, and has done so without hearing either. The CAFCASS reporter is, to a very great extent, the eyes and ears of the court, especially where the child is concerned, but the judge has not “listened” to the child, and he has ignored the reporter."

Moore-Bick LJ agreed with Rix LJ that there should be hearing before a different judge and that another CAFCASS officer should be asked to prepare a fresh report for that purpose.

Read more...

Relationships Scotland

It is over a year now since Relate Scotland and Family Mediation Scotland merged to become Relationships Scotland so I thought it would be interesting to have a look at their website to see what services are now on offer. Apart from Relationship Counselling and Family Mediation, Relationships Scotland currently supports a variety of other family support services: Child Contact Centres, Groups for adults and Groups for children.

Child Contact Centres offer supervision at the venue, supporting the exchange of the child from one parent to the other and supporting the contact when necessary. Alternatively Child Contact Centres may be used as a venue to “pick up” and “drop off” children for contact.


Family mediation services offer support groups for adults. These may be in the form of a series of workshops exploring the emotional and practical difficulties of divorce and separation. These groups are called Surviving the Break Up. Also on offer are a one off, 3 hour parent education workshop called Parenting Apart where parents can find out how best to support their children through separation – covering the emotional process of separation, children’s different needs at different stages, and what children need to hear.

Groups for children in which they are supported to express their thoughts and feelings in a safe environment re run by family mediation services. They meet with other children experiencing their parents divorce or separation and they are able to support one another through that. In some services these groups are called Time to Talk
Some local services provide a children and young persons’ counselling service to give children and young people time to explore their thoughts and feelings about changes they may be experiencing in their life due to parental separation, divorce or moving into a step-family situation.

Not all the services are available in all locations, unfortunately, but there is a useful search facility for finding specific services offered at different locations.

Read more...

Baby Peter

The horrific story of Baby Peter , just 17 months old when he was found dead in a blood-spattered cot in August 2007 having suffered a broken back and fractured ribs has been widely covered by the media and other bloggers. He had more than 50 injuries despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, doctors and police over eight months. On Friday the mother of Baby Peter, described as an aggressive and manipulative woman, was sentenced at the Old Bailey to 10 years in prison for causing the death of her child. Earlier in the week her boyfriend was sentenced to 12 years in prison for causing Baby P's death and life for raping a two-year-old girl.

Apart from this post linking to the chronology from the official files and the Scots' Reaction to Lamming (the report into child protection services in England ordered after the conclusion of the case) there has been little more I can add to the weeks of extensive coverage.

Article Source The Herald 23 May 2009

Read more...

Dads' Space/Mums' Space

The domestic violence association Respect,recently launched a virtual child contact centre. The service is not just for those where there are risks, it may also be used to to enhance existing contact or when parents live a distance apart or when work commitments make contact difficult. There are two sites, Dads' Space 1-2-1 and Mum's Space 1-2-1 and they allow separated parents and children to share photos, email, chat, send gifts and cards, and play games online.

At the National Family Picnic taking place in Regents Park on 25th May awards, consisting of Family of the Year (in association with National Family Week), Mum of the Year (in association Mumsnet) and Dad of the Year (in association with Dads-Space), are to be presented. Gordon Brown has recorded this message of support.



At the moment the service only works through a referrals process and for more information about the service , or to make a referral, you can write to the Dads’ Space 1-2-1 Team at: info@dads-space.org

Read more...

Supporting Young Adults

Yesterday in R (G) v Southwark London Borough Council the House of Lords ruled that a 17-year-old who was thrown out of his home by his mother should have been provided care by his local authority and not just provided accommodation by the homeless persons unit.

This was of particular interest because as older teenagers our children were in the habit of bringing home waifs who for one reason or another couldn't stay with their parents. Over a number of years we had a total of 4 young people staying with us at different times and as indicated in this earlier post stability and support encourages young people to remain in employment, education or training. 3 out of our 4 went on to graduate with good first degrees and one is starting a PhD after the summer.

Family Law has a full case brief, this is part of the summary.

... Having been thrown out of his home by his mother and after sleeping on friends' sofas and in their cars, the teenager presented himself to the authority social services department requesting accommodation.

The authority provided the child with bed and breakfast accommodation, but concluded that, given the child's resourcefulness and age, accommodation provided by the homeless persons unit, with referrals to other support agencies, would be sufficient for his needs.

His solicitors argued that the child should in fact be accommodated pursuant to s 20(1)(c) of the Children Act 1989, thereby becoming entitled to the wider range of services available to a 'looked after child' and eventually qualifying as a 'former relevant child'.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the child's application for judicial review, stating that the local authority had been entitled in this case to decide that, even though the child was unable to live with the mother and had no other home, as a resourceful teenager capable of sourcing accommodation provided that he was given assistance to do so, he needed only 'help with accommodation' .........,,

If, as in this case, a child met those criteria, the child was entitled to support under s 20 once every item on the list had been assessed in the child's favour, the duty had arisen, and the authority were not entitled to 'side-step' that duty by giving the accommodation a different label. A local children's authority could not avoid their responsibilities by 'passing the buck' to another authority, such as a housing authority, but could ask another authority to use its powers to help them discharge theirs.

Full summary Source Family Law 20 May 2009

Read more...

Witholding Passports

All too often in my experence some separated parents are difficult about children going on holiday with the other parent. Absolvitor has picked up the story about an 11 year old boy, Brendan MacFarlane, from Perth taking his mother to court to force her to hand over his passport so that he can attend a talent show in America. Brendan's performances on YouTube earned him an invitation to sing live on US TV show "Maury's Most Talented Kids" but Brendan lives with his father and his mother refuses to hand over the passport. She failed to attend the hearing due to an upset stomach so the case has been put off until next month.

Read more...

Blog Round Up 4

There are only a handful of Scottish blawgs and I still haven't come across a family law one (Jonathan Mitchell QC does the occasional excellent post about family law) which I think is a great shame because blogging is a great way of engaging with the public and correcting any misconceptions. To spur lawyers on there is Charon QC's post The Bar Urged To Use The Internet Thingy to Market Themselves..... Shock Horror


Lucy Reed of Pink Tape makes valid points about the disadvantages of using an online divorce service here. Firstly, the fastest ‘UK’s best selling managed divorce service’ is causing a logjam and therefore the court local to them is perhaps no longer the 'UK's fastest divorce court.' Secondly, someone who is someway down the separation route might discover they need to travel a great distance to resolve a dispute about children at the court local to the online divorce service where the divorce petition is pending.


John Bolch of Family Lore asks is Tagging:A Good Thing? after the case of Re A Minor (Family Proceedings: Electronic Tagging) [2009] EWHC 710 (Fam), when the mother, who had twice wrongfully removed the child from the jurisdiction, agreed to be electronically tagged whilst the child was with her.


Marilyn Stowe's post about a mother denied all access to her children by the court provoked some interesting reaction. According to The Times the woman was judged to be too indulgent a parent an banned from seeing her children for three years. Marilyn raised concerns about whether the court should have taken such action and John Bolch played the Devil's Advocate asking how is the court to deal with a parent causing children to suffer serious emotional harm? Of particular interest are the informed, objective comments on Marilyn's blog from those professionals involved with intervening in difficult contact cases advocating a 'whole host of interventions that might be attempted before drastic measures are taken.'

Rarely in my experience do these cases boil down just to the behaviour of one parent. We really need to more in terms of providing education and support to families going through break down at an early stage to give people coping strategies and prevent as many of these cases as possible in the first place.


Judith Middleton of Judith's Divorce Blog has an excellent topical story about listing income needs.

Read more...

The Cinderella Effect

Following a number of high profile cases of children abused by step parents Camilla Cavendish writes about the Cinderella Effect, the name given to analysis in Canada, the US and Britain which suggests that children are at far greater risk from stepfathers and non-blood “relatives” than from natural parents.

• Canadian research over 20 years has put the risk of being killed by a stepparent at between 50 to 100 times greater than the risk of being killed by a parent.

• A 1989 study by the University of Iowa found non-biological fathers four times more likely than natural fathers to sexually abuse children in their care.

• In Britain, NSPCC research has found that children living with biological parents are between 20 and 33 times safer than those living in any other type of household

If the figures are correct, the article continues, by far the most effective check on abuse is the real family and biological fathers.

Full article Source The Times 8 May 2009

Read more...

Swearing Judge

In this earlier post I mentioned Lord Justice Wall's judgement quoting This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin which begins: "They fuck you up, your mum and dad/ They may not mean to, but they do/They fill you with the faults they had/ And add some extra, just for you."

This was the case R (A Child), Re [2009] EWCA Civ 358 in England where court battles over a child's residence began six years ago and psychiatric reports found that his involvement in the parental battle would have a high risk of increasing his "negative and aggressive behaviours", causing a negative self-image and relationship difficulties. An original order that the boy should live with his paternal grandparents was set aside.

In a general warning to all divorced parents, the judge said: "This mother and father are no different from many separated parents who make the damage to their children caused by their separation much worse by continuing their battles against each other in legal proceedings."

Full article Source The Guardian 30 April 2009

Read more...

Open Courts?

After a campaign by the media and others, today saw the implementation of new rules to open family courts to the media in England & Wales. Accredited journalists can attend divorce and children cases unless they have been specifically excluded. In this post John Bolch of Family Lore asks what is the purpose of the reforms and will it make a difference? John has also provided useful links to a press release from the solicitors organisation, Resolution, the new Rules, Practice Directions and the President's Guidance.

"The historic opening up of the courts was taken by Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, after sustained pressure from families affected by the courts’ decisions and the media, led by The Times." says Frances Gibb, legal editor of The Times in an article for tomorrow's edition.

Read more...