Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reforming child arrangement orders to help accommodate parents that are Armed Forces personnel on mandatory overseas deployment.

The Government has not made an assessment of the potential merits of reforming child arrangement orders to help accommodate parents that are Armed Forces personnel on mandatory overseas deployment.

Child Arrangements Orders are determined on the individual facts of each case. The Children Act 1989, which governs applications for child arrangements orders, makes the child’s welfare paramount and presumes the child’s welfare is furthered by the involvement of both parents, where it is safe to do so, unless the contrary is shown.

In determining the child arrangements orders, the court will apply the factors set out in the ‘welfare checklist’ in the Children Act 1989. These include the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child concerned, the impact on the child of any change in circumstances, and how capable each parent is of meeting the child’s needs.