Member

Regarding Amendments 10 and 11, I completely agree that parents and children are central in deciding who from the family network should be involved in family group decision-making. They know their family network best, and statutory guidance will set this out very clearly as well. But I think that we need to retain the safeguard that professionals may make decisions contrary to those views if, in their professional judgment, this is in the child’s best interest. You can imagine a situation, for example, where domestic abuse is a factor, and that might be a suitable reason for certain members of the family, notwithstanding the child’s views, not to be included in the particular process or meeting.