Ivana Bacik (Independent)

It may have been. I am not sure who it was.

The amendment covers many issues. It would be worthwhile for the Minister to examine it in a broader context because it would give rights to a child beyond a civil partnership. It would amend the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 to ensure the acquisition of guardianship by a step-parent, regardless of whether that person is "a person who is married to or is the civil partner of a parent of that child". It would address the current anomaly where a woman who has a child subsequently marries a new partner and that new partner has no relationship in law to the child, unless he is the father of the child. It would also include coverage of civil partnership and recognition of the natural father. It recognises that a child may have a number of guardians, all of whom would have to consent to the step-parent being made a guardian. It is commendable because it would encompass the voice of the child, providing that the court should consider "the views of the child himself or herself in relation to the application, as the court thinks appropriate and practicable", "the views of the guardian or guardians of the child" and "the views of any other parent of the child". It would cover a natural father who is not a guardian. It would covers circumstances in which the guardianship may have ended. It is not quite the special guardianship provision I mentioned, but it would help to address the difficulties faced by children of a civil partnership when the partnership dissolves and they have no relationship in law with the non-birth or adoptive parent.