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Children and Adoption Bill [HL]

My Lords, at this late hour, I almost did not get up to speak. I simply want to say that it is an absolutely legitimate concern to ensure that we look at the cases on their needs, rather than on which way they come through the system. Although I am not sure that the amendment is the vehicle by which we achieve that, because guidance in the area is always difficult to get exactly right, CAFCASS is looking at the matter in practice. You will see that in everyday matters. We are attending to it. The situation cannot be allowed to continue in which you spend six times as much time on a public law case as on a private law case, when the circumstances of those cases are difficult to distinguish. The service—and, I am sure, the Government—are determined to put that right. I am not sure that guidance will help us, but it is worth being prodded to get the practice right.