So it’s back to work in 2009 and in my pigeonhole are several sorry tales of Christmas Contact Orders gone wrong. A timely reminder that a) its no good having an order if the court doesn’t produce a copy with the warning notice prior to the start of contact, because then it can’t be enforced using the new powers under the Adoption and Children Act 2006 (in force last month) and b) even if you could enforce it by applying for a community service penalty or a compensation order you can’t get back a christmas missed.

On a related note, readers may be interested to note the rather belated publication of the details of Contact Activity Providers on the CAFCASS website – of course it would prove rather more interesting if the map showing the location of the providers would actually load! Those providers (whoever they are) will be crucial in the implementation of the other measures brought into force in December, namely contact activity directions and conditions. I will post when the technical glitch appears to be rectified.