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 introducing legislation to remove parental rights from people convicted of rape in cases where a child has been conceived as a result of that offence.

The Government has received a number of representations seeking to broaden the parental responsibility measure in the Victims and Courts Bill, including proposals to restrict the exercise of parental responsibility by individuals convicted of rape in cases where a child has been conceived as a result of that offence. We are carefully considering these suggestions as the Bill progresses through Parliament.