The Family Courts: Does The Future Work?
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059904600406 |
| Published date | 01 December 1999 |
| Date | 01 December 1999 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
REFLECTIONS
The Family Courts: Does
The Future Work?
Following the expected announcement in the Queen’s speech
of a new family courts service, Alison Jones considers the
implications of what is so far known about the restructured agency.
n
17 November 1999 we were
able
new world fluctuates quite dramatically
at last to retreat from the
depending on the most recent rumour, the
edges of our seats when the Queen
last person I spoke to or the latest
confirmed that her government will
(unrelated) pronouncements of the Home
introduce a bill to &dquo;reform the Probation
Secretary or the Lord Chancellor. I am
Services in England and Wales and create a
reminded of Tim Chapman’s recent article
new Children and Family Court Advisory
in NAPO News (September, 1999). In
Service&dquo;. This heralds the forthcoming
relation to the effective practice initiative,
divorce of the Family Court Welfare
and quoting Anthony Giddens, he refers to
Service from the Probation Service and its
a range of identifiable reactions amongst
amalgamation with the Guardian ad litem
colleagues:
&dquo;cynical
pessimism&dquo;,
and Reporting Officer Service, and the
&dquo;sustained
optimism&dquo;,
&dquo;pragmatic
Children’s Branch of the Official Solicitor.
acceptance&dquo;, and &dquo;radical engagement&dquo;.
The
Although the context is different and there
rumours have been rife and the
is little of substance to which to react as
hazy image of what the future might hold
and what the Children and Family Court
yet, his framework certainly had some
resonance for me.
Advisory Service (a working title, we are
told) might look like, seems to shift by the
The Pessimist’s Perspective
week. When Helen Hartwell, Project
As Tim Chapman acknowledges, ’cynical
Manager for the Lord Chancellor’s
pessimism’ comes easily to those of us who
Department, addressed NAPO’s Annual
have experienced a seemingly constant
General Meeting this year, she talked of &dquo;an
round of damaging assaults on the
empty page&dquo; - to fill it by April 2001...
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