Member

I turn to Amendments 16 and 28. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Murray, for raising the important issue of how we ensure that any restriction of the exercise of parental responsibility under Clauses 3 and 4 is in the best interests of the child. The defendants who will be affected by these measures have clearly demonstrated through the crimes they have committed that they are risks to children, whether that risk be physical or mental. The nature of the offences committed and the seriousness indicated by the length of the sentence allow us to be clear that the restriction in such cases is overwhelmingly likely to be in the child’s best interests. In those cases, as we have already debated, the restriction kicks in automatically to offer immediate protection to the child by preventing the offender being involved in the day-to-day decisions regarding the child. However, I repeat what I said: it is not intended that these powers should replicate those of the family court.