§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the legal framework underpinning the rights of access for fathers to children following marital breakdown. [168412]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 27 April 2004]: The Children Act 1989 establishes the legal framework within which most separated parents are able to reach agreement about arrangements for the future of their children without recourse to the courts. However, it is open to any parent to apply for a contact or residence order, regardless of whether the parents are (or have been) married to each other. In all questions that come before the court about the upbringing of a child, including issues of residence and contact, the court is required to treat the welfare of the child concerned as its paramount consideration. In considering contact applications, the court will decide on the facts of each individual case what is in the best interests of the child. There is no automatic "right" of contact for either fathers or mothers. The interests of the child come first.
The Government have no plans to amend the Children Act 1989 in relation to this core principle.
1589WThe Government recognise that the facilitation and enforcement of contact orders is a serious issue. I refer the hon. Member to the announcement I made on 19 March regarding the Government's response to the Children Act Sub-Committee Report 'Making Contact Work', and to the on-going work on the facilitation and enforcement of contact by the Department of Constitutional Affairs.