Plan to tag parents dismissed by MPs

Government plans to tag parents who breach contact orders have
been rejected by the parliamentary committee scrutinising the draft
Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill as “humiliating”.

The measure would be a disproportionate response to a breach of
a contact order, says the committee’s report out this week. It
calls on the government to make the bill more child-centred and
challenge the “adult to adult” character of litigation between
separated parents.

It also recommends that powers in the bill to impose curfews
should only be applied where they promote compliance of an order
rather than as a punishment.

The committee suggests the bill should require courts to
consider the safety implications of ordering contact.