*Re R (a child) (adoption: contact)

R, who was six years old, had been taken into care. S, her 17-year-old half-sister, stayed in contact with her while she was in foster care, and during the first year that R was with her prospective adoptive parents. The original arrangement was that S would have direct contact three times a year. The local authority had said that this would meet R’s needs, although S had previously asked for more contact than this.

S was later informed in writing that the contact was bad for R’s stability and that it was proposed to reduce the contact. S applied for permission to apply for a contact order to reinstate the previous contact arrangement. This contact order was to continue even after the adoption order was made.

The judge refused the application on the basis that the court would be very unlikely to make a contact order which went against the prospective adopter’s wishes.