Incredibly frustrating that so many first appointments in private law children cases (and sometimes even DRAs) are being heard only by legal advisors, and without Magistrates.
No criticism of the quality of legal advisors, they are absolutely doing their best.
However, the issue is that when it comes to issues of contact they have no decision making or judicial powers. That's the role of the Magistrates (or indeed, Judges).
This means that if there is a dispute over contact (usually the reason the matter is in court) they are powerless.
If there's an agreement on contact this can of course be recorded on an order (but again if it was agreed, perhaps we wouldn't be in court, in the first place).
If there is no agreement between the parties, often there is no contact between the child and the other parent.
I know that this is frustrating for many legal advisors (a different issue is whether they should have such judicial powers). The legal advisor can list for an interim hearing on contact to resolve the dispute (in some courts currently that would be a hearing next year).
It's often a waste of money for the parents, but much more worrying is that it's often a child not having contact with a parent for many months. That can't be right.