Contact Orders (Hansard, 10 July 1998)

§ Mr. Levitt
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many women were sent to prison in each of the last three years for refusing to allow an estranged partner access to their children under a contact order. [48941]

§ Mr. Hoon
The information requested is not held centrally. Although there is provision for either party to be committed for non compliance with a contact order, no historical data are kept. Each individual case record would need to be searched and the information could, therefore, be provided only at disproportionate cost.

§ Mr. Levitt
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of applications for contact orders from estranged fathers were(a) turned down and (b) turned down on grounds of a history of physical or sexual abuse in the last year for which figures are available. [48942]

§ Mr. Hoon
The information requested is not held centrally. Although details of the number of refused contact applications can be obtained, the information is not broken down. Each individual case record would need to be searched and the information could, therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.

§ Mr. Levitt
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what sanctions the courts may impose on(a) a parent with care and (b) an estranged parent who breaks the terms of a contact order. [48940]

§ Mr. Hoon
In cases where a parent with care or an estranged parent breaks the terms of a contact order, the court may enforce the order by an injunction. Where an undertaking by a party is incorporated in an order of the court that may also be enforced in the same way. Ultimately, the failure to comply with a defined contact order can amount to contempt of court, for which the penalty can be a fine or committal to prison. Imprisonment is a last resort, although in some cases the threat of it can be as effective.

§ Mr. Levitt
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what training is available for judges and magistrates to assist them in their understanding of cases involving(a) domestic violence and (b) contact orders. [48971]

§ Mr. Hoon
Judicial training is the responsibility of the Judicial Studies Board (JSB) which is a non-departmental government body. The JSB also sets the syllabuses for and monitors and evaluates the training of lay magistrates.
In 1997 all District Judges attended a seminar on their new powers in relation to domestic violence under Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996. Domestic violence is included in JSB Continuation Seminars for Circuit Judges, Recorders and Assistant Recorders, private Family Law Induction and Continuation seminars attended by judiciary nominated to hear private family law cases and District Judges Continuation seminars. Domestic violence 677W is covered in the training for lay magistrates who sit in family panels. It is also included in the Equal Treatment Training Pack recently produced by the JSB.
Contact orders are addressed at JSB Private Family Law Induction and Continuation seminars, and at Public Law Continuation Seminars attended by Circuit Judges nominated for private and public family law proceedings, Deputy High Court Judges, District Judges of the Principal Registry of the Family Division and District Judges nominated for Public Family Law Proceedings. Lay magistrates on family panels also receive training on contact orders.