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Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, I have listened with care to the arguments put forward by the noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, and supported so ably by the noble Baronesses, Lady Kennedy and Lady Afshar, and by the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss. The amendment would prevent the automatic acquisition of parental responsibility by the man who makes a declaration to the registrar that he is the father, if the mother, supported by an approved professional, declares that she has reason to fear for her safety. The noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, rightly identified the fear of some women and it is understandable that she seeks to ameliorate it. However, I am not sure that this is the correct way to do it. The point of registration of births is, first and foremost, to fill out the details of a child’s birth, including the details of both parents. Birth registration under this reading is not the mechanism or the place to prevent violence. An interesting conflict is developing here with evidence given in Committee by the noble Baroness, Lady Crawley. She said that the Government knew of no compelling evidence that registering the birth and acquiring responsibility make a man violent or exacerbate violent behaviour. That would seem not to be the same experience as the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, outlined in her hard-hitting testimony. The Minister went on in Committee to say that the violence of these men must be dealt with independently of the birth registration system. I concur with that. Any violence or threat of violence must be dealt with quickly, fairly and comprehensively. However, I do not think that we will achieve that goal by adding into the mix an extra complication to the birth registration process. The issue of parental responsibility is fundamentally important. Responsibility should be removed only by the courts and not, as the amendment of the noble Baroness would allow, by a decision taken by the registrar of births, even if it is on the advice of a professional. I am sympathetic to the motives of the noble Baroness—I am sure that we all are—but I cannot support the methods that she advocates in her amendment. However, there is an implicit challenge here to the Government to find a more appropriate solution to this genuine problem.