§ Lord Northbourneasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have any plans to clarify the rights and responsibilities of fathers and mothers respectively in relation to their children. [HL515]
§ The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg)The Children Act 1989 defines parental responsibility as "all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property". Any attempt to define the content of parental responsibility in statute might not cover all possible eventualities, and so would inevitably become out of date very quickly. The Act confers parental responsibility automatically on all mothers and on married fathers, and enables unmarried fathers to acquire it by making an agreement with the mother or obtaining an order from the court. The Government intend to amend the Act so that an unmarried father who registers his child's birth jointly with the mother will acquire parental responsibility without further formality.