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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

moved Amendment No. 24: 24: Clause 2, page 1, line 12, at end insert— ““( ) to promote among parents and prospective parents awareness that every parent has a responsibility (shared with the child’s other parent) to do their best to provide for the welfare 8and supportive parenting of their child;”” The noble Lord said: I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 25 and 35. Amendments Nos. 24 and 25 suggest an additional objective for the commission. They would require it to set child maintenance in the context of the wider responsibilities of parenthood, while Amendment No. 35 defines those responsibilities. The amendments would impose a duty on the commission to inform and educate the public, especially fathers and prospective fathers, about their responsibilities for their child’s welfare and supportive parenting. To be successful, any society must make suitable provision to ensure that its children get the nurturing, education and parenting they need to fulfil their potential. As a society, we must be clear about what part we expect parents to play in this process. If not, we risk the state being overwhelmed by the need for surrogate parenting because of a lack of parents to care for their children themselves. In this country today there are significant groups of fathers who do not accept or do not understand why they have any responsibility for parenting their child. The kind of groups I have in mind include fathers who have fertilised a child having been misled by the mother about contraception or some reason of that kind; fathers who have been brought up in a macho culture which believes that to father a child is a scalp on your belt and you have no responsibility towards the child thereafter; or immigrant fathers in this country who have come from societies where children are brought up by the village, the community or the tribe, with the father having little or no involvement. The law is not clear on the responsibilities of parenthood. The Children Act 1989 defines a parent’s responsibility thus: "““In this Act, ‘parental responsibility’ means all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property””." What does that mean? In a recent Question, I asked the Government for a further definition. Their reply was that the research necessary to answer the question would be ““too costly””. That Answer makes it abundantly clear that a simple definition is needed to help parents understand their obligations. In striking contrast to the 1989 Act, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 defines parental responsibility clearly and concisely, stating that, "““a parent has in relation to his child the responsibility … to safeguard and promote the child’s health, development and welfare … to provide, in a manner appropriate to the stage of development of the child … direction … guidance to the child””." A parent has the responsibility also, "““if the child is not living with the parent, to maintain personal relations and direct contact with the child on a regular basis; and ""… to act as the child’s legal representative, but only in so far as compliance with this section is practicable and in the best interests of the child””." Why should Scottish children have the advantage of their parents knowing clearly what their parenting responsibilities are while children south of the Border do not? The definition in Amendment No. 35 is derived directly from the wording of the Scottish Act. The amendments would clarify and promote understanding about the law as it stands, and about the shared values of our society and the custom of the country in respect of the role and responsibilities of parents. By making both parents’ obligation to their child and to society absolutely clear, and by promoting knowledge on the subject, the amendments would, among other things, probably significantly reduce the number of claims made to the commission and the number of attempted evasions. They could also help to reduce the sense of injustice which is often caused by the collection of child maintenance from those men who do not know, or were not warned of, their potential liability. They would serve another important role by making it absolutely clear that in our society fathers as well as mothers have parenting responsibilities to their child. They would put firm ground under the feet of teachers in schools whose job it is to provide relationship education and lead discussion with boys about sexual behaviour and their role as future parents. They would serve the same purpose for those whose job it is to prepare male migrants seeking to acquire citizenship in this country. I beg to move.