The Children Act has been described as ""the most comprehensive and far-reaching reform of child law to have come before Parliament in living memory"". Quintessentially, it is about family rights and children's rights, and how best to promote the interests and welfare of children in need, at the same time maintaining the fabric of family life without over-intrusion from the parental state. Stuart Bell is a barrister and member of parliament for Middlesbrough and has first hand knowledge of the intricacy of child care matters through his involvement in the Cleveland affair. He has annotated the Children Act to take practitioners beyond the text of the sections and schedules, not to pre-empt the courts, but to assist all those who deal in child care to go about their business with a certain knowledge, not only of what the law is, but what it is meant to be.
