All-Party Parliamentary Group on Child Contact Centres update
The All-Party Parliamentary Group AGM was held in May and re-elected the current Chair Chris Leslie MP, Co-Chair Baroness McIntosh and Officers Steven Pound MP, Lee Rowley, Mike Kane MP and the Earl of Listowel became a new Officer.
The APPG also held an ad hoc meeting with key charities providing Child Contact in July. Attendees including The Salvation Army, Barnardo’s, Cafcass, Family Action, Core Assets and Families Need Fathers. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Baroness McIntosh’s Private Members Bill to develop a statutory duty for the all child contact centres to be accredited and to provide national standards for all child contact.
The group agreed that child contact centres and services need regulation and to take forward an advocacy campaign in Parliament. We are currently awaiting clarification around the current political uncertainty before progressing Baroness McIntosh’s Bill.
MP visits and photo competition
Over the last 18 months local Child Contact Centres have hosted 40 visits with their local MP. These visits have been very successful in increasing awareness for the valuable work of volunteers in providing child contact services for their local community with Members of Parliament. NACCC will continue to run the MP visit programme in 2020.
Following some excellent photos with visiting MPs, we announced an MP Photo Competition at last year’s AGM. Thank you for all your entries to our MP competition. The competition is now closed and the Family Justice Young People’s Board (FJYPB) will be judging entries in the next couple of weeks with the decision being announced at the AGM – good luck everyone!
Richard Daniels,Government Relations Adviser
Catch up on what has been happening in our latest news since the last issue
President of the Family Division’s guidance: Forms of Orders in Children Cases
70% 4 star rating from Family Justice Young People’s Board: Overview Inspection Report 2017-2019 now available
NACCC Trustee Judge Ray Singh CBE awarded Honorary Doctorate
Grant set to help keep families in contact after separation
Funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery will enable the creation of new inclusive tools to help ensure that parenting doesn’t end when relationships do. An £18,000 grant to NACCC from People’s Postcode Trust, a grant giving charity funded entirely by the lottery players, will enable the organisation to digitise and update its literature and materials that prepare children for keeping in touch with both parents after divorce or separation.
