Child Arrangements: Presumption of Parental Involvement Debate
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Matt Western
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Child Arrangements: Presumption of Parental Involvement
Matt Western Excerpts(1 day, 18 hours ago)
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Matt Western (in the Chair)
I will call Dr Marie Tidball to move the motion, and I will then call the Minister to respond. There will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up, as is the convention for 30-minute debates.
Dr Marie Tidball (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the presumption of parental involvement in child arrangements.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. There must be urgent reform of the presumption of parental involvement in child arrangements, known in law as presumption of contact, on the basis of evidence and principle, and to ensure that children’s voices are at the heart of our family courts.
The de facto common law principle of presumption of contact was legislated for in the Children and Families Act 2014, which inserted sections 1(2A) and (2B) into the Children Act 1989. That legal principle means that parents should always be given contact with their children, even in circumstances where there is a known domestic abuser.