COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE BIRMINGHAM DISTRICT REGISTRY
(MR JUSTICE MACFARLANE)
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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IN THE MATTER OF B & R (Children) |
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THE RESPONDENT DID NOT APPEAR AND WAS NOT REPRESENTED.
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Lord Justice Wall:
"I agree with the local authority and the children's guardian's submissions. It seems to me that the failure to realise arrangements that might lead to all the children being in direct contact with each other is not a change of circumstances. The plan was not written in as stark terms as the father through [his counsel] submits. It was an aspiration. It has not been able to be realised in relation to [two of the children], and that was expressly catered for in the plan itself. It seems to me that it is not, therefore, a change of circumstances of a type that should get the father past Section 24(3) of the Act. In the same manner, whilst the local authority has a duty to give due consideration to the child's cultural and religious background (ACA 2002, S.1(5)), the fact that the proposed placement is not an exact match for the father's own religious and cultural background cannot be regarded as 'a change of circumstances'."
Order: Application refused