Sarah Whitten endorses government proposals to encourage parental involvement
More needs to be done to provide divorced parents with legal rights and the final report of the independent Family Justice Review, published last November, contained proposals designed to address this pressing issue. The government’s response, published last week, accepts the majority of the review’s recommendations in full. Indeed, the response goes further by recommending that the law should be changed to include a legislative statement of the importance of children having an ongoing relationship with both parents after family separation, where that is safe, and in the child’s best interest.
The government has established a working group of ministers to develop proposals for legislative change, which will be brought forward for consultation later this year. This needs to be at the top of the government’s agenda—it is the responsibility of both parents to raise their children and the right of every child to have a relationship with both their parents. The proposed changes to the law will help to give every child that
