I support the general principles behind the amendment. Proposed new subsection (3A)(a) is right to ensure that we ascertain the views of the child—obviously in proportion to age and maturity. We must establish best practice for the way in which the wishes and feelings of the child are ascertained. There might be the fear that one parent was manipulating the child to give a particular view, and the caveat that we must develop best practice is vital. It is ridiculous to enforce something that distresses the child come what may. If there is manipulation, we still need to get behind what is distressing the child to try to address it in some other way. It is important to work towards that with the amendment.

On proposed new subsection (3B)(a), we must ensure that the Bill has the right balance and checks. In a recent constituency case, of which I shall not give full details, contact was allowed some time ago, within the mother’s premises. I have heard only one side of the story, but I do not doubt that the mother is terrified about the contact and what is going to happen. There has been an enormous time lag in getting the matter back to court, and the concern is either that the risk might not have been ascertained properly, and would not have been even with the new provision in clause 7, or that the domestic violence may occur during the stressful time after the break-up. I do not accept that the problem is always one of child safety. I just want to ensure that there are sufficient checks because harm could come to the child who witnesses violent behaviour while waiting months and months for the case to return to court. I want to get the right balance.

I am concerned about game-playing, with children being piggy in the middle and mothers or fathers being deprived of seeing their children. In the case that I mentioned, I could imagine the child being seriously injured mentally, if not physically. The amendment is important and contains important principles.