s 4 Reports on child's welfare
(1) A court considering any question with respect to a child under this Order may ask an authority to arrange for a suitably qualified person to report to the court on such matters relating to the welfare of that child as are required to be dealt with in the report. (2) The Lord Chancellor may , after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice, make regulations specifying matters which, unless the court orders otherwise, must be dealt with in any report under this Article. (3) The report may be made in writing, or orally, as the court requires. (4) Regardless of any statutory provision or rule of law which would otherwise prevent the court from doing so, the court may take account of— (a) any statement contained in the report; and (b) any evidence given in respect of the matters referred to in the report, in so far as the statement or evidence is, in the opinion of the court, relevant to the question which it is considering. (5) An authority shall comply with any request for a report under this Article.