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Published: Wednesday, 26 February 2014 18:43

On 11^th July 2012 Sir Alan Beith, Chair of the Justice Select Committee, wrote to the Prime Minister criticising proposed changes to the Children Act 1989.  Sir Alan’s letter was a response to the current government consultation which recommends changing the Act to promote shared parenting.

Among other points, Sir Alan argues that the changes would undermine children’s welfare.  To read Sir Alan’s letter in full, please click here.

Ken Sanderson, CEO of FNF, has responded to Sir Alan’s letter, addressing each concern individually.  Copies of the letter have also been sent to the Prime Minister, Secretary of State for Justice, the Minister of State for Children and Families, and to the Parliamentary-Under Secretaries of State for Justice and Education.

You can read FNF’s response here or read a summary below:

•    Shared parenting does not undermine a child’s welfare as, unless there are safety concerns, shared parenting is usually in the best interest of the child;
•    Changing the wording of the Children Act 1989 will strengthen children’s rights, not their parents’;
•    In Australia there has been a 32% decrease in court cases involving children since the introduction of their shared parenting legislation;
•    Australian judges do not measure the quality of a child’s relationship with their parents in temporal terms or assume the legislation refers to equal time.

We hope to have reassured Sir Alan and Ministers that a presumption of shared parenting would be a hugely positive step towards making children’s best interests the heart of family law.

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