5. What representations has the Counsel General made on behalf of the Welsh Government regarding family courts to ensure that they take a rights-based approach to working with children in Wales? OAQ53906

Through the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service Cymru’s delivery of the family court advisory service in Wales, and through its engagement on the family justice board, Welsh Ministers advance the best interests and the rights of children who are engaged in or who are affected by family proceedings on a day-to-day basis.

I thank the Counsel General for that reply. I have received a number of really concerning individual cases brought to me through casework, including a CAFCASS officer saying to a young child, 'You do realise that, if mummy doesn't want you to see daddy, mummy could end up in prison?' Those were the very words, and I do have the permission of the person affected to make that comment. I think other Members—I'm aware from other conversations—have had very concerning cases where, for example, perpetrators of domestic violence have been allowed to continue to see their children. Now, the Counsel General will be aware that the UK Government has ordered a review, today, I think, of the family courts, with a view to ensuring, amongst other things, that children's voices are properly heard in the proceedings. There is, of course, a big difference between what's in the child's best interests and what the child may say it wants, and nobody is arguing that CAFCASS officers don't have to make some very difficult judgments in that regard, but can I ask the Counsel General today to look to see whether there are representations that he can make on behalf of the Welsh Government in the context of this review? Because we have, of course, a particular duty here to ensure that, when children in Wales are dealing with officialdom, even if it's not officialdom that's directly under the Welsh Government's control, those children's rights are respected, and particularly the right to be kept safe and the right to be heard in matters that affect them.

Well, can I thank the Member for that important supplementary question? This is a really vital matter and I'm pleased the UK Government has committed to launching a review of how children are dealt with in the family courts. I think that's intended to be a review that lasts for three or four months and the call for evidence is, I think, imminent in relation to that. I have had a preliminary conversation with the Deputy Minister about how best we can engage with that review and will follow that up with a more substantive discussion in the coming days.

She will know, of course, that section 1 of Children Act 1989 includes a requirement that the child's welfare is the court's paramount concern and that decisions made by the court should have regard to human rights legislation. One of the critical aspects I believe the review may wish to address is the question of family procedure rules in court and how they work and how they can be strengthened to better protect children from the sorts of decisions that her constituent appears to have had first-hand experience of, unfortunately.

A representative appointed by the director of CAFCASS Cymru sits on the Family Procedure Rule Committee, which is responsible for developing and devising those rules of practice and procedure, but, as I say, I will be taking forward those discussions with the Deputy Minister to make sure that we can best feed into that review and reflect the concerns that we have in this Chamber, which are well-established, given our focus here in Government and in the Assembly on upholding the rights of children in all respects.