New clause 8 - Mandatory risk assessment checklist
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill [Lords]
3:15 pm
Mr Dominic Grieve (Shadow Attorney General, Home, Constitutional & Legal Affairs; Beaconsfield, Conservative)
New clause 8 is identical, apart from one line, to new clause 32, and I am conscious that other Committee members will want to speak to it. I shall not take up much of the Committee's time, because it is largely self-explanatory.
This is a good time to consider the extent to which we should take special precautions in respect of children's contact and residence with one parent who has been abusive towards another. This is a controversial area in a number of respects. First, allegations of abuse are sometimes brought against one parent by another specifically to influence the outcome of contact and residence proceedings. We should not lose sight of that. Secondly, as we have already discussed, breakdowns of relationships can cause people to behave in ways that they may subsequently greatly regret. The fact that they do so does not in itself mean that they are unsuitable to either reside or have contact with their children. We must also bear that in mind with great care.
Having established those two facts, we need to face up to the reality that there are occasions when the behaviour of one parent towards another may provide compelling evidence about their suitability to have contact or residence. We know also that where there has been a history of abuse, it may pose considerable problems in the context of future contact or residence of children with the abusive parent.