Family Law (Hansard, 16 May 2000)

§ Jane Kennedy

Parts I, III and IV of the Family Law Act 1996, with the exception of section 60, are already in force. In relation to Part II of the Act, I refer the hon. Member to the written parliamentary answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Dr. Stoate) on 17 June 1999,Official Report, column 213W. The position remains the same.

Section 60 of the Act permits the making of Rules of Court to allow third parties to apply for orders under Part IV on behalf of victims of domestic violence. The Government are currently considering whether it is appropriate to implement the provisions of section 60. The cost implications of implementation will be considered as part of this process.

118WThe present Government therefore adheres to the guidelines, set out in the previous Government's White Paper Open Government of 1993 (Cm 2290), for determining the extended closure of records (annex C, p 90). These specify that records of the decennial census of population are to be closed for 100 years.The Council concluded in October 1998 that the Government's grounds for the closure of the census records were valid, but that it might be possible to overcome the problem for future generations by giving a lesser commitment in forthcoming censuses. It therefore decided not to ask the Lord Chancellor to initiate any reconsideration of the matter, and informed Mr. McCready of its views. As you will appreciate, in the absence of any change in policy by ministers there was nothing that the Council could ask the Master of the Rolls or Keeper to do. There has been no change since 1998 that would justify asking the Council to reconsider, and so far as the 1901 census is concerned the records will become open at the beginning of 2002 in any case, in a searchable digital format that has been widely welcomed by genealogical bodies.