Member

I turn to Amendments 170A and 170B on home visits. A home visit is not a neutral act; it is an intervention. It alters relationships and it signals authority. It is about the most intrusive of actions a state can take in family life. In a free society, intrusiveness should always be a last resort. Amendment 170A requires authorities to consider whether the information they seek could “reasonably be obtained” in a less intrusive way. That is not bureaucracy but a recognition of liberty and fundamental convention rights, especially Article 8. We are sending in child services to look for a potential Sharif case in every home they are visiting; that is essentially the line that we are giving them.