---

Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, this amendment is different from the one I moved in Grand Committee on the subject of joint birth registrations and has been suggested by the NSPCC—surely one of the most recognised authorities in the country on families who experience domestic violence, particularly against children. The principal difference in the two amendments is that the one I moved in Grand Committee would have precluded the father from being on the birth certificate if the mother said that she or her child was at serious risk of danger from the father. This amendment recognises that all children have a right to know their birth heritage, so the father's name would be registered, but he would not necessarily acquire thereby full parental responsibility if the mother believed that the father posed a risk to her child. In the Bill, if the unmarried mother alone registers the birth and does not provide crucial information about the father such as his current address, he cannot be contacted and cannot be registered because no data will be considered by the registrar that cannot be verified. However, the loophole that we seek to close is this: if the father contacts the registrar separately and before the mother registers the birth, giving his name and address and, later on, when the mother comes to register the child's birth perhaps inadvertently she confirms the father's name, the father has acquired full parental responsibility. The mother might say, "Yes the father is John Brown but I don’t know where he lives and I don't want to know because he is a violent man". The register might have no option but to say, "But John Brown came in yesterday and gave me his address, saying he was the father of the child. You have just confirmed that, so he has now acquired full parental responsibility. If you had come in before him, I could have taken into account the fact that you do not know where he lives and do not want to know because he is a violent man. But now you have confirmed that he is the father, we have his address and he has now automatically acquired full parental responsibility". Under the amendment and in order to close that loophole, if the father sought to register the birth separately and before the mother, the father's name would still be on the child's birth certificate but he would not automatically acquire parental responsibility. He would need to apply for that responsibility through the courts under Section 4 of the Children Act 1989. That is the first safeguard for the mother and child. The second safeguard in the amendment is to ensure that the mother does not maliciously invent a story of domestic violence to stop the father from acquiring parental responsibility. We are saying that the mother would be required to make a legal declaration in a prescribed form to the registrar explaining that she had reasons to fear for her safety or that of her child. That declaration would be supported by an approved professional such as a midwife, health visitor, social worker, GP or other such person. Such approved professionals should have had training in child protection, domestic violence and abuse matters, and understand both the nature and effects of psychological and physical violence on mothers and children. Turning to the Government’s arguments against this kind of safeguard, in Committee the Minister said that registrars do not wish to take on the quasi-judicial role of deciding who is and is not fit to exercise parental responsibility. We do not want that either. We are simply saying that, where serious concerns are raised by the mother, in the form of a legal declaration about violence or abuse, and are supported by an approved professional, it is safer for the child if the father applies to the court for parental responsibility. If the Bill is passed in its current form, the responsibility could pass to the mother to apply to the court to restrict the father’s exercise of his parental responsibility—not something that she would wish to be burdened with, having just given birth. The Minister also said that registrars do not ask married mothers whether they prefer not to have the father’s name on a birth certificate, or whether they would prefer to limit the father’s parental responsibility. I found this an extraordinary statement, and one that does not recognise the serious concerns of those in the field, such as the NSPCC and Gingerbread. They are worried about this loophole in Bill, which I have spoken about. The word "prefer" does not come into it if the father is violent or abusive. Finally, the Minister said that if there is a genuine problem, the Government should take a proper look at the evidence that exists to address any problems in a coherent way. The NSPCC has many case studies to illustrate why it thinks that there is a problem, but this is not the place or time to read any of them out. The NSPCC says that the rights conferred as a result of parental responsibility can be manipulated and present a threat to children. Parents with parental responsibility have the right to a say in all important matters in relation to the child, including the child’s name, education, medical treatment and decisions about where the child lives. The case examples given to me clearly show that there are circumstances in which the courts consider that the potential to misuse parental responsibility is so great that it would not be in the child’s best interests for it to be awarded. In general, courts are minded to award parental responsibility to unmarried fathers, since they can use other measures to address child protection. For example, the court may award an unmarried father a parental responsibility order, but refuse an application for contact and introduce a prohibited steps order to prevent him taking certain actions. The NSPCC is concerned that, under the Bill, fathers in the case examples that it has given would automatically acquire parental responsibility, even where registrars are informed about the mother’s child protection concerns, and without the opportunity for rigorous scrutiny and the introduction of other measures to protect the child that courts can introduce. To sum up, the proposed exemption will affect only a very small number of unmarried fathers, where they have contacted registrars independently of the mother, and she has made a legal declaration—supported by an approved professional—that he poses a risk to her and her child. In these circumstances, unmarried fathers can still acquire parental responsibility by making an application to the court under Section 4(1)(a) of the Children Act 1989, as they are currently able to do. This is safer for children than automatically awarding parental responsibility when child protection concerns are raised. Registrars should inform fathers that the option to apply for parental responsibility is available to them. We would also encourage some flexibility so that, if the courts consider that it is inappropriate to award parental responsibility, fathers are able to reapply for parental responsibility at a later stage. I beg to move.