Action

Sign petition to stop government removing the presumption of parents being involved in their child’s life when parents split up

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Nothing is more important to a child’s emotional, psychological and physical development than the relationship they have with their parents. Right to Love ask you to sign our petition to get the government to commit to not removing the presumption of parental involvement when parents split up and to email your MP for support on this issue.

The government is reviewing the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989 in relation to child arrangements for private law cases after parents separate. The suggestion is that such proposals will immediately stop alleged abusive parents from having contact with their child. On the surface it sounds like a good aim but we are worried about what it means for a child’s attachment bond with good-enough parents, which most parents in the UK are.

Right to Love is concerned that:

  • Such a change could impact on every parent and their child in the UK when parents split up:
    • Going through family court is a stressful experience already, let alone having to start from a place where your ability to parent is called into question immediately.
    • It will create fear for parents, and therefore, likely lead to more conflict between parents at a time when they will already be under significant stress.
    • Stress and conflict between parents often leads to stress on children and poorer outcomes throughout their lives. Such proposals will not help with this.
    • It may also have similar impacts on grandparents and other extended family.
  • Quality of parenting is an important consideration when making legal arrangements for children. Right to Love has looked at where the term “good-enough” parenting came from and if “perfect parenting” exists. From what is not “good-enough” parenting, we know current provision exists to remove children from abusive parents who have caused, or are at risk of causing “significant harm”. The proposed changes risk adding more barriers for good-enough parents and causing harm to children:
    • They may cause longer delays re-establishing contact between a good-enough parent/child where false allegations have been made.
    • During this time significant harm may have occurred for child and parent as a result of psychological/coercive control. Child psychological abuse in the context of parental separation is something the government has yet to address properly in private law cases and this may impact on the attachment strategies children develop.
  • Changes will widen the already significant inconsistency with public law cases where parents are given the opportunity to change where abuse has been confirmed:
    • It is in the child’s best interests to support parents to become better parents with appropriate consideration to the risks, parental capacity for change and appropriate monitoring if needed.
    • It is in the taxpayers’ interest too, with improvements in parenting leading to reduced burden on state services.
  • Professionals in the attachment community have already warned of the Effect of Separation from Parents on Children [2023]
    • Such changes could cause further attachment trauma by the time the family court process concludes.
    • We do not know what engagement the government has had with recognisable professionals in the attachment community.
  • It doesn’t seem worthwhile to spend taxpayer money on such changes when there are more important changes requiring funding in private law courts:
    • The skill, experience and qualification for professionals who make such decisions is a completely different issue. One that the general public, most of whom are good-enough parents, should not have to suffer for by making the proposed changes.
    • Many of you know good-enough parents who have been denied contact with their children. Some of you will know abusive parents who have also been denied contact with their children.
    • We know mistakes are made, but the issue is that private law is the wrong system for resolving mental health, personality or family dysfunction.
    • There is a lack of assessment, treatment and monitoring by competent professionals and an archaic long and drawn out process. The issue is not with the presumption of parental involvement itself.
    • Any mistakes made in making the wrong decisions or applying the wrong interventions have impacts on other government services who have to deal with the breakdown of a child/parent’s mental and physical health and behaviours as a result of attachment trauma. The proposals risk making things worse.

Right to Love believe the current provision to assume contact is in the best interests of the child, unless proved otherwise, appears more in line with attachment theory and the child’s human right to a relationship with both parents than the proposals being considered.

We ask all parents and members of the public who are also concerned about this issue to: