§ Sir Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to his answer of 22 October 2003,Official Report, column 631, on divorced parents, if he will collect separate figures for the numbers of (a) fathers and (b) mothers granted leave to remove their children from the United Kingdom. [136098]
§ Mr. LammyThere are no plans to collect the data requested. No children statistics distinguish between orders in favour of mothers and fathers and to collect figures in this area would incur disproportionate cost. Figures are kept of the total number of orders made under section 13 of the Children Act 1989 for removal from the jurisdiction since 2000 (when figures were first collected). Separate figures are not held for mothers and fathers, though 333 such orders were made in 2002.