Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to amend the presumption of parental involvement when a parent has been convicted of abuse or violent crimes.

The Government has announced that it will repeal the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989 when Parliamentary time allows.

We are committed to ensuring that the child’s welfare remains at the heart of the courts’ decision-making, and that each case considers the individual child and their family circumstances. Courts will continue to make decisions in line with the remaining provisions in the Children Act, the Human Rights Act 1998, ECHR considerations, and caselaw, with the child’s welfare remaining the paramount consideration.

The measure to repeal the presumption forms a key part of broader family court reforms, which include the expansion of the Pathfinder courts. These reforms aim to ensure that any decisions centre the child’s welfare and are based on a robust assessment of potential risks.

Alongside this announcement, we have published the Review of the Presumption of Parental Involvement and the accompanying reports from the three commissioned research projects.