§ Mr. VazTo ask the Attorney-General if the Lord Chancellor will consider bringing forward an amendment to the Courts and Legal Services Bill[Lords] to establish a family courts system.
§ The Attorney-GeneralNo, the Government hope to make further progress on family matters in the Courts and Legal Services Bill, but improvements in the procedure and jurisdictional arrangements for family proceedings can be achieved only in step with reform of the substantive law. It would not be feasible to set up a family court until the substantive law has been unified. The Children Act marked the first step in an ordered programme of reform.