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Written question asked by Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 23 October 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 October 2025. It was answered by Alex Davies-Jones (Labour) on Wednesday, 29 October 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Child Arrangements Orders: Grandparents

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to legislate to protect the rights of children to communicate with (a) grandparents and (b) others members of extended family in cases where (i) one and (ii) both parents seek to prevent such contact.

Answer

I acknowledge and respect that grandparents and other extended family members often play an important role in children’s lives and can provide stability in families, particularly where parents are separating.

Any contact with the child should always be in their child's best interests. This is why there is no statutory right for any adult to have contact with a child. It is already possible for extended family members to seek leave of the court to apply for ‘spending time with’ or ‘living with’ arrangements through a Child Arrangements Order under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989 (‘the Act’). The requirement for grandparents or others to seek the leave of the court first is to ensure that their application is in the child's best interests; but in certain circumstances, applicants may be entitled to apply without the leave of the court under section 10 (5) of the Act. These circumstances include where the child has lived with them for a period of at least three years. Therefore, the Government has no current plans to legislate further on this issue.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
84887
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Grandparents Child arrangements orders
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk