§ Sir Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what research has been commissioned by his Department on the number of divorced fathers who manage to maintain effective contact with their children should the children's mother be granted leave to remove them from the United Kingdom; and what steps his Department takes to monitor the welfare of such children. [133034]
§ Mr. LammyMy Department has not commissioned research into this issue. We do not monitor the welfare of children who live abroad with their mothers with the agreement of the court.
Sir Nicholas Winter tonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many applications were made by(a) mothers and (b) fathers in each of the last five years for which figures are available for leave to remove children from the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom courts; and how many of those applications were (i) granted and (ii) rejected. [133035]
635W
§ Mr. LammyThe number of orders made under Section 13 of the Children Act 1989 for removal from the jurisdiction since 2000 (when figures were first collected) were as follows. The figures in brackets were the number of those made by consent.
2000–190 (41)2001–292 (65)2002–333 (88)2003–1344 (190)1Figures for January to September inclusive.No separate figures are held for mothers or fathers, nor is information available about the number of applications that were refused.
§ Sir Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what information his Department holds about(a) the research findings and (b) other formal evidence available to the courts about the impact upon (i) mothers seeking leave to remove children from the United Kingdom should their application be denied and (ii) the impact upon children of losing access to their father should such leave be granted to the mother. [133036]