Scottish Government

CONTACT APPLICATIONS INVOLVING ALLEGATIONS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE: FEASIBILITY STUDY

CHAPTER SIX ANALYSIS OF COURT RECORDS

INTRODUCTION

6.1 Analysis of court records is covered in the following sections. A total of 90 court records were scrutinized. Relevant records were those where contact was included among craves. Such records are referred to as " contact cases".

CONTACT AND CRAVES

6.2 Contact was included among a range of other craves in an action and not all contact cases were able to be identified using CMS. The following tables show the extent to which contact is contained in other CMS categories used by courts.

Table 2 Number of cases

6.3 Table 2 illustrates the total number of relevant contact records selected and Table 3 shows the proportion of cases where contact was craved. Of the 90 records selected around two thirds involved actions where contact was craved.

Table 3 Number of contact cases

6.4 The tables below illustrate the extent to which contact craves are found among other family or ordinary actions. In it can be seen that in as few as 36% of cases contact is the first crave.

Table 4 First crave when contact is among craves

* other is "Authorise foster parents to apply for passport"

Table 5 First crave when contact is among craves by court

* rounding error ** other is "Authorise foster parents to apply for passport"

6.5 There are some striking observations in the above tables. In The Dundee sample, Declarator of Paternity is the first crave in 74% of cases. In the Dumfries sample the majority of contact cases are found in Parental Rights and Responsibilities category, whereas in the Glasgow sample the highest proportion of contact cases are recorded in the contact category.

STATUS OF PARTIES

6.6 The following tables show how the status of parties in the data set reflect the complexity of modern family relationships. Table7 illustrates that one third of contact actions involve parties who have previously been married. More than half of actions involve those who have been in or have left cohabiting relationships. Another 7% involve parties who have not cohabited. Grandparents and extended family members feature in 8% of actions.

Table 6 Status of parties in all cases

* rounding error

Table 7 Status of parties in contact cases

Table 8 Status of parties by court in contact cases

rounding error

6.7 When individual court samples are considered, actions involving cohabiting relationships dominate the Dundee and Dumfries samples while actions involving currently or previously married couples feature strongly in the Glasgow sample.

Table 9 Status of parties by pursuer in contact cases

* rounding error

6.8 Table 9 shows that the majority of pursuers are cohabiting fathers. Recent research has found that there is still some confusion among unmarried cohabiting fathers on their legal relationship with their children. ²⁸ Table 9 could indicate a move by this group towards enforcing their legal rights.

6.9 Increasingly grandparents are becoming involved in contact applications, according to respondents. Although proportions are small, more appear to be assuming rights and responsibilities for their grandchildren. This is evident in both the Glasgow and Dundee samples and is confirmed in interviews.

PURSUERS

6.10 The following tables describe who pursuers are in actions. Table 10 illustrates the proportion of pursuers who are fathers, mothers or others within the court samples.

Table 10 Pursuers

6.11 Mothers are pursuers in 7% of actions. In around 8% of contact cases "others" are pursuers. This last categories includes 2 maternal grandmothers, a paternal grandmother, a daughter and a ex-partner of the mother of the child.

Table 11 Pursuers in contact cases by court

6.12 When individual courts are considered, fathers are pursuers in more than 90% of cases in Dumfries and Dundee, whereas in Glasgow 74% of pursuers are fathers, 13% are mothers and a further 13% of pursuers are "others".

CHILDREN IN CONTACT CASES

6.13 The ages and numbers of children in contact cases were recorded. Information on children can be found in the initial writ.

Table 12 Number of children in contact cases

Table 13 Average age of child in contact cases by court

6.14 There were 90 children involved in 61 contact cases with twice as many children in the Dundee and Glasgow Sheriff Courts than in the Dumfries Sheriff Court.

6.15 Children are much younger in the Dundee sample: the average age is 4.8 in the Dundee sample and 8.3 in the Dumfries and Glasgow samples. This age differential could well relate to the status of parties in Dundee, many of whom had been in cohabiting relationships ( see Table 8). Relationships in the Dundee sample did appear to be short-term and cohabiting relationships can be brief and lead to relationship breakdown. ²⁹

6.16 Records did show that arrangements for contact were generally agreed between most parents at initial separation. Problems were encountered when parties wanted to change arrangements, when family circumstances changed or when children grew older and wished to spend more time with friends or activities.

"I think perhaps more and more we come in to see the children where arrangements previously made have broken down or there's been a change wanted by one party or the other, and the immediate response is that the child doesn't want to spend every second weekend with you. We say, will you accept our assessment."

6.17 There were many references to contact being stopped or made difficult for a parent when maintenance payments were not forthcoming or when new partners were involved. For parents with very young children concern about hygiene and ability to parent were expressed frequently in reports. Sheriffs are aware of these concerns and try to give direction as best they can. Some sheriffs take a very broad view of contact and stray well into parenting issues.

"Fathers seem to believe that they can take a 9 month old out and have no problem whatsoever and have it for a weekend - my mum will help me or something like that, but they need to know what mum's routine is for that child, diet requirements, when it goes to sleep, when it eats, what it likes
to play with, the fact that it doesn't like white chocolate - all that sort of thing."

Cases proceeding to proof

6.18 Very few cases in the court records looked at had proceeded to proof - as few as 5% of contact cases. These findings may well confirm what respondents said about the effect of CWHs, that they have lessened the need for cases to proceed to proof. Proofs are generally regarded as heightening existing conflict between parties, having a negative effect on the long term relationships between children and parents and making contact more difficult to enforce.

"…we find that Child Welfare Hearings, by and large over a period of time, can avoid the necessity of going to proof."

"We all, think that at the end of the day it creates the correct climate, because otherwise if you have a proof and facts are found one way or the other then it just polarises the parties even more and the children get lost in the melee."

6.19 Notices of Intention to Defend were submitted in the vast majority of cases but few of these, proceeded to proof stage, as shows.

Table 14 Contact cases proceeding to proof by court

*Includes sisted cases.

6.20 There is no indication given in records why parties did not defend actions-the effect of CWH, much mentioned by respondents, could well be having some effect. However we cannot discount the importance of access to legal aid to enable parties to defend an action or other less obvious reasons.

Legal Aid

6.21 The feasibility study aimed to establish whether legal aid information could be found in court records. The results of our findings are set out below in a series of tables. Care should be taken, however, when interpreting the information presented since these findings are not definitive, but illustrative of the kind of information available within records. Further assurances would be required to ensure the reliability and completeness of these data for use in a future study.

6.22 The following tables look at awards of legal aid made to parties. In some writs "Assisted Person" was noted beside parties' names, but not in all. Information about legal aid came from application forms in court records. These were present in the majority of cases. Many actions were sisted so that parties could apply for legal aid. Reasons for refusal or a non award were not given in court records. Thus, the study was unable to assess the impact of means testing, merit testing or contributions.

Table 15 Legal Aid provided in all cases

*rounding error

Table 16 Legal Aid provided in contact cases

6.23 shows that legal aid was provided in 59% of contact cases. Twice as many pursuers as defenders received legal aid - 43% of pursuers and 21% of defenders. In 5% of contact cases legal aid was available to both parties.

6.24 When we look at awards of legal aid by court, there is little difference between courts.

Table 17 Legal Aid provided in contact cases by court and parties

* rounding error

6.25 Table 17 above shows that legal aid awards in Dumfries are split between pursuers and defenders, whereas in Glasgow and Dundee awards are weighted towards pursuers. In Dundee and Glasgow courts, legal aid has been awarded to both parties.

Table 18 Legal Aid provided in contact cases by pursuer

6.26 The tables above show that in actions where fathers are pursuers legal aid has been awarded in 22 cases. In actions where mothers are pursuers legal aid has been awarded in 2 cases and in a further 2 cases where others are pursuers. In the court records examined it can be said that the majority of awards of legal aid are made to pursuers, most of whom (85%) are fathers.

6.27 In summary, we can say that in actions involving contact applications, there appears to be sufficient information within records that would allow analysis of awards to be made. However, as stated earlier further reassurances about reliability and completeness should be sought.

Child Welfare Hearings

6.28 Respondents have said throughout the study that CWHs have brought a less adversarial approach to handling family actions involving children. In addition they have reduced the need to go to proof, lessened court time and reduced conflict. As sheriffs explain.

"We automatically kick off a Child Welfare Hearing as soon as a Section 11 comes in and sometimes the parties in the meantime or before that have made some sort of ongoing arrangement which we will look at in the context of the Child Welfare Hearing and offer the facility to police or to monitor if they want."

Table 19 and Table 20 below confirm the frequency of Hearings.

Table 19 CWH in all cases

*"No" cases include cases sisted prior to CWHs

Table 20 CWH in contact cases

*"No" cases include cases sisted prior to CWHs

6.29 Hearings were held in approximately two thirds of all cases looked at and were convened in 87% of contact cases. Sheriffs state that agreements are made in approximately 80% of hearings.

CONTACT OUTCOMES

6.30 Child contact applications are made through the courts and, if granted as contact orders, regulate the fulfilment of parental responsibilities and rights.

6.31 Reports from solicitors and curators alongside children views assisted the courts in making decisions. Where there were concerns about abuse and contact granted, third parties were regularly involved. Orders were refused or not made on the advice of curator and solicitor reports.

6.32 A contact centre or third party was used when "supervised contact" was ordered. Some respondents perceived that courts had little difficulty cutting short or refusing contact when problems arose during contact sessions.

6.33 In almost three quarters of contact applications a formal court order was made or there was agreement via a joint minute. Many cases were sisted to allow "monitoring of contact" to continue by way of reports from curators and solicitors.

Interim orders

6.34 Interim orders can be made by the court prior to a final order . We found that interim orders were made in 37 actions, representing 61% of cases. No orders were made in 21% of cases.

6.35 There was no indication in the data set that interim orders were made before a CWH was held. This would seem to confirm what interviewees said. In cases where domestic abuse was a factor, interim contact was usually granted to pursuers who were not perpetrators. Interim orders were either not made or refused when allegations of abuse were made against new partners, or fathers.

CONTACT ORDERS

6.36 The following tables look at contact outcomes and arrangements that were made by the courts. In 56% of cases contact was granted and in 20% of cases parties reached agreement through a joint minute. Though contact was refused in 10% of cases, no order was made in 13% and a contact order recalled in 2%.

Table 21 Contact application outcomes

* rounding error

6.37 The most common form of contact order made was residential which included children staying overnight at weekends, spending a week or so with the non-resident parent during school holidays and some time over the Christmas and New Year period.

6.38 Many of the fathers in the data set were unemployed and this was mentioned in court papers as a positive factor for parenting, allowing more time to look after and care for children.

6.39 Table 22 illustrates the type of contact arrangements made in different courts. Contact was granted to 81% of applicants in Dumfries court, to 63% of applicants in Dundee and to 87% of applicants in Glasgow court.

6.40 Residential contact was used most frequently in Dumfries court and arrangements made by joint minute were common in Dundee and Glasgow courts. No orders were made in around a quarter of applications to Dundee court. The highest proportion of orders were refused in Dumfries court with Dundee court close by.

Table 22 Contact application outcomes by court

* rounding error

6.41 Indirect contact - by telephone or letter - was allowed to one father who was in prison and had had no previous contact with the child who was now 3 years old. A supervised contact order was generally made when there were concerns about abusive new partners, and fathers. They were used also when there had been little contact between a parent and a child.

6.42 Contact was refused in cases where there were allegations of sexual abuse, in some cases where there were allegations of physical abuse and in some cases involving alcohol misuse. Supervised contact was overseen most often in contact centres but often other family members participated.

DOMESTIC ABUSE AND CONTACT

6.43 This section of the report addresses the main research question concerning domestic abuse and contact applications. To re-iterate, the background to the study is the concern that continuing contact between children and violent fathers has been used as a route to further abuse children. The purpose of this feasibility study is to assess the availability and quality of existing data on contact applications by parents involving allegations of domestic abuse.

6.44 The data set provides a rich bank of information to draw on but care should be taken when considering how representative collated information is from the set of data we have analysed. For example, where cell sizes are small, percentages are high - so two cases can represent 6% of a sample.

Definitions

6.45 There are references to different forms of abuse in court records. The terms "domestic abuse raised" relates to such references. Abuse was described in writs and reports and ranged from sending abusive text messages, shouting, punching walls, favouring one child over another to children seeing daddy choke mummy, children living in a climate of fear and dread of mum's new partner, and allegations of physical and sexual abuse.

Reliability

6.46 It should be stressed once more that allegations relating to abuse in the majority of cases have not been tested. Any mention of abuse appeared to be treated very seriously by the courts and in many cases interim contact was not granted and reports were requested from solicitor or curators to investigate matters further.

Table 23 Domestic abuse raised in all cases

Table 24 Domestic abuse allegations in all cases

Table 25 Domestic abuse raised in contact cases by court

Table 26 Domestic abuse allegations in contact cases by court

6.47 The above tables show that domestic abuse is mentioned in 36% of all cases looked at and features in 30% of actions involving contact. Allegations of domestic abuse were made against fathers in 18% of contact cases and against new partners in 8% of cases. Allegations against mothers featured in 3% of cases. In the 18 cases where abuse was mentioned, allegations are made against fathers in the majority of cases (61%)

6.48 When data from individual courts are considered (Table 25) there are twice as many instances where domestic abuse is mentioned in Dumfries Sheriff Court than in the other courts - 55% in Dumfries compared to 26% in Glasgow and 22% in Dundee.

Domestic Abuse and Contact Orders

6.49 In the 18 cases where domestic abuse was mentioned contact arrangements are shown below. Contact was granted in over half of actions where domestic abuse is mentioned. In 11% of cases a Joint Minute of Agreement was reached. In the remaining actions, contact was refused in 17% of cases and in a further 17% no order was made.

Table 27 Contact orders where domestic abuse raised

6.50 The type of contact granted where allegations of abuse are made is described in Table 28. Around 17% of orders were for supervised contact. In 28% of cases an order for residential contact was made and in 11% of cases a non-residential order was made. There is little information concerning arrangements made by Joint Minutes of Agreement. In more than a third of the sample contact was either refused or no order was made.

Table 28 Type of contact granted where domestic abuse is raised

6.51 Table 29 describes contact outcomes where pursuers are the subject of allegations. In 11 (18%) applications, allegations were made against pursuers most of whom were fathers. In such actions contact was granted in 6 (54%) cases and refused in 2 (18%). A Joint Minute of Agreement was made in 1 (9%) case and no order made in 2 (18%) cases.

Table 29 Type of contact when allegations are against pursuer

*rounding error

6.52 The most common form of contact granted where pursuers are the alleged perpetrators was supervised. A decision on "supervised" contact was made in 3 cases, all of which involved accusations of physical abuse. Two of the pursuers were fathers and one was a mother. Where fathers were pursuers, contact was "supervised" by a maternal grandmother in one case and a girlfriend of the father in the other. Where a mother was the pursuer there were further allegations of drug misuse and charges against the mother's partner for offences against children. In this case contact was granted monthly via a contact centre.

6.53 Residential contact orders were granted to 2 pursuers who were divorced fathers. Both already had residential access and were the subject of allegations of threatening behaviour.

6.54 A non-residential order was granted to a father where there were unspecified accusations of abuse and a joint minute agreed in an action where physical abuse by the father was alleged.

6.55 No orders were made in 2 cases where fathers were accused of physical abuse and misuse of drugs and alcohol.

6.56 Contact was refused in 2 cases: threatening behaviour was alleged against one father and charges brought by the police; allegations of physical abuse and a conviction for assault against the mother were made against another father.

6.57 Recommendations made by curators and the wishes of children were taken into consideration when making decisions, according to records. In 3 cases where charges of abuse had been brought either against the pursuer or a new partner then contact was refused or restricted.

6.58 In summary when allegations of abuse are made contact orders varied. There is considerable information in records to allow some assessment of how decisions are made.

CONTACT ORDERS, CURATORS AND SOLICITORS

6.59 Where contact was craved and abuse mentioned, a curator or solicitor was appointed in half of such cases. All reports addressed domestic abuse and made an assessment of the harm which children had suffered or were at risk of suffering if contact was ordered. In instances where children were old enough curators also ascertained the wishes of children. Recommendations made in reports appeared to be accepted in almost all cases.

Table 30 Appointment of curators and solicitors where domestic abuse raised

6.60 CWHs were held in all cases where domestic abuse was mentioned.

Drug and alcohol misuse

6.61 Concerns relating to drugs and alcohol were commonplace in court records, and were present in almost one quarter of actions. There were substantial levels of alcohol and drug misuse reported in both Dundee and Glasgow cases and such concerns featured strongly in decisions made by courts. Table 31 below illustrates the incidence found in records.

Table 31 Contact actions where drugs and alcohol feature

* includes 2 cases of mental health problems

Table 32 Contact actions where drugs and alcohol feature by pursuer

6.62 Allegations concerning drugs and alcohol misuse are split evenly between mothers and fathers. Yet, in all actions bar two, fathers are pursuers. All such cases have been raised by fathers against mothers. In the majority of cases either a contact order was refused of no order made.

DESCRIPTIONS OF ABUSE CONTAINED IN RECORDS

6.63 Some examples of abuse contained in records are given below. We have attempted to classify these in some way ranging from threatening behaviour to physical and sexual abuse and recorded these accordingly. Allegations of threatening behaviour are included in the first category and allegation of physical or sexual abuse are included in the second category. This arbitrary categorisation does not, however, capture the full extent of fear and distress caused to parties.

Examples of allegations of domestic abuse in court records.

6.64 Threatening behaviour towards children involving new male partners was mentioned frequently. Children were described as " being cowed", suffering " verbal abuse from mother and new partner" "living in a state of fear and dread" when " he joined in with mum and gave me trouble"

6.65 Children's experiences are recorded in reports and are telling. One child saw " daddy choke mummy" another records how a mother " banged my head off a banister." Another asked " when would she get a new daddy". One child describes her mother using drugs: " she placed substances on tin foil and burnt it from the bottom" and " mum changed after this" .

6.66 Examples of threatening behaviour by fathers towards mothers and their children were evident: " dad damaged the doorbell and put nails in mum's car tyres" and " he punched the wall outside the house" and " drove the car at her"

6.67 Threats from fathers about removing children were common: " He threatens to pick up the children from school when he is not supposed to" or " sends threatening text messages to mother" and a child " fields calls to protect the mother."

6.68 Children reveal how they feel about these types of behaviour and what their wishes are:

"We were wakened up in the middle of the night when the rows started. We were frightened and we did not know what to do."

"I would see my dad if he would stop scaring my mum"

"I don't want to go to my father because he is quick tempered and there's always rows."

6.69 One child requested the sheriff to " tell my parents to stop being silly".

6.70 There is some indication of children being questioned about the other parent during contact. The relief that this no longer happens was expressed by one child.

"I look forward to going to my aunties at the weekend and not having to go to my dad's to be forced to answer questions about mum's life."

"In my past days when I actually had contact with my dad I did not always go and stay with him anyway"

6.71 After parents separated some children felt a sense of relief.

"Now I can enjoy coming home with no arguments are going to erupt between my parents. No more nights being kept awake by my dad hitting my mum"

"Now I am happy 100%".

6.72 Children appeared to be aware of how serious making a decision not to see a parent is. As one child stated.

"I don't know what will happen in the future, but right now, he has nothing to do with my life, and I am happy with that."

6.73 In many of the cases above either a contact order was refused or supervised contact ordered. In one of the cases mentioned above, the original writ was dated 8 years earlier and the case was still active.

Rights of cohabiting fathers

6.74 In some cases fathers have craved Parental Rights and Responsibilities so that they have legal status to enable them to give consent for treatment of their children, attend CWHs and be involved in their child's schooling. In one case the social work department had imposed a Place of Safety Order on a child and placed that child in the care of the father, who was unable to appear at a CWH or consent to treatment for his child. There were several cases not unlike this one. These would seem to confirm findings from recent research where confusion over the rights of co-habiting fathers was found to be high. ³⁰

CHILDREN'S VIEWS

6.75 This section of the report will consider the way in which children's views were managed. In any proceedings, courts are able to make an order regarding parental responsibilities and rights in relation to a child. ³¹ Contact orders are one of several orders that can be granted by the courts.

6.76 Key provisions within the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 relating to when children's view must be considered, are as follows:

• When a person is making any major decision on the exercise of parental responsibilities/rights (section 6) including the nomination of a testamentary guardian (section 7)
• When courts are considering making an order in regard to parental responsibilities /rights etc (section 11)

Intimation to children

6.77 Intimation to a child in section 11 applications is usually carried out using Form F9 ³² which must be sent to the child, where a section 11 order is sought, or, a pursuer should crave dispensation with intimation ³³ on the child.

6.78 There is a presumption of maturity at age 12 (section 11(10)) and common practice is to ask for a warrant for service on a child aged 12 or over, and to seek dispensation below that age. The normal argument given for dispensation is that the child is of tender years. However sheriffs have discretion and may or may not accept this argument.

Gathering Children's Views

6.79 Dispensing with intimating children was normally recorded as a crave in initial writs and further information was included in a notice of Intention to Defend.

6.80 In the majority of cases intimation to children was dispensed with. However there were differences across courts. In Glasgow and Dundee courts around 4% of children were intimated compared to 36% in Dumfries court.

Table 33 Intimation to children in contact cases

*rounding error

6.81 There were a range of reasons why intimation of children was dispensed with, according to respondents. Age was an obvious one. Where children were involved in divorce actions but were already resident with the pursuer, they were unlikely to be intimated. As were children who had a learning difficulty. Similarly in cases where a joint minute had been agreed between parents, children would not be intimated.

6.82 There were other practical reasons mentioned, also. In one court there were difficulties knowing where children lived. Furthermore a child can often receive a copy of the initial writ when intimated and courts considered this to be too distressing and inappropriate for children.

6.83 Despite these difficulties children's views were gathered in 44% of cases, most frequently by curators and solicitors, but also using form F9. The majority of children who were eligible expressed their views. Reports from solicitors and curators appear often in court records. Sometimes three or four reports had been written for a particular case.

6.84 Not all courts abided by curators or solicitors decisions but they carried considerable weight according to practitioners and court officials. We were not able to assess how well children were informed or prepared for their role in proceedings, or how long curators or solicitors spent with children. It did appear, however, that in actions where children expressed their wishes not to increase contact with a parent, to continue seeing a parent or refusing to see a parent, these seemed to be acted upon.

6.85 In two cases it appeared that the views of a child were not followed. Both cases involved contact with an abusive mother where the children did not wish contact and contact was ordered. Social work were involved in both cases.

6.86 Very few children were separately represented in the data set and there is little information in processes to indicate why.

Knowledge and experience

6.87 The experience legal professionals had of working with children involved in legal proceedings was not an area examined in any detail. However, statements were made by respondents which suggest that there were very different approaches and attitudes among those involved in preparing or hearing family cases.

6.88 Three respondents said that one sheriff did not like to see families s quabble in his court and practitioners agreed that they did try to stop clients from arguing at hearings, whereas other sheriffs said when this happened it did give some insight into how families dealt with conflict.

Competency

6.89 Little specification is given in legislation or guidance on assessing competency of children, what contextual factors should be considered and what skills are required to do so. For instruction of a solicitor, a child must be considered to have a general understanding of what it means to do so. There were constant references in curator and solicitors reports on the ability of children to understand what was being asked of them, but support agencies are unconvinced that children are adequately prepared for this experience.

How Children's Views were expressed

6.90 The tables below illustrate the way in which children expressed their views. There were no great differences among courts.

Table 34 Recording of children's views in contact cases

* some cases early in process, views may be taken/recorded later

6.91 Children as young as 8 and as old as 15 expressed their views. Curators were assigned to cases where there were babies and older children.

6.92 The numbers of children considered eligible to express their views is given below in Table 35 and Table 36

Table 35 Numbers of children eligible to express views

Table 36 Children aged 8 and over who expressed views

*rounding error

6.93 Approximately 44% of children were aged 8 years and over in the dataset. Of these, 58% expressed their views. The remaining 42% involved 17 children where there was no record of their views. Some of the reasons why this may occur are noted below.

• 5 children were subject to a Joint Minute of Agreement between their parents
• 1 child had learning difficulties
• 4 children were subject to a divorce action by their mother where contact was craved along with a residence order which was granted.

6.94 If these 10 children are removed from the calculations, we find that 77% (23) of children aged 8 and over expressed their views. There was no information concerning views found in court records for the remaining 23% (7) of children.

6.95 In two actions, four children aged between 8-12 were separately represented.

Table 37 Numbers of contact cases where curator assigned

* some cases early in process, views may be taken/recorded later

6.96 Curators were appointed in 34% of contact cases, although it should be borne in mind that some cases were early on in the process and curators could well be assigned later. Curators were most frequently assigned in Dundee and Glasgow Sheriff Courts.

6.97 Curators were appointed in cases where there were allegations of a child being subjected to threatening behaviour by an adult, where a child was involved in protective behaviour towards a mother or had witnessed violence or where there were concerns about their general care.

Conclusion

6.98 Information on the way in which children's views are managed is readily available in court records. Reports from practitioners and letters from children are a rich source of information. The gaps in information on intimation and more detailed accounts of how children were enabled to express their views could be explored more fully in a later study.

6.99 Further work could be undertaken to help establish why cases generally are not proceeding to proof, why there are variations in the proportions of children intimated across courts and how assessments of children's age and attributes are made in decisions about gathering their views.