I agree. A year is quite a long time to prove one’s ability to care for somebody, and if the period were reduced to a year, that would simply mean that there was no requirement to apply for leave. A person would still have to justify in court that they were entitled to the order.

In conclusion, the new clause perhaps does not say either of those two things, and says something different, but I shall be interested in the Minister’s response on those two points about imbalance.