Press Releases

• The number of paternal grandparents who have a close relationship with their grandchildren halves after separation.
• A rift between the children and grandparents will have a harmful effect well into adulthood.

This Sunday, the UK will celebrate National Grandparents Day, to thank grandparents for the unique, loving and joyful contribution that they offer to children. However, each year, thousands of children lose a hitherto close relationship with their grandparents after the separation of their parents. Research reveals that the number of paternal grandparents who have a close relationship with their grandchildren halves after separation from 6 out of 10 to 3 out of 10[1]. The effects of this loss are long-lasting, Grandparents give children a sense of well-being and make them likely to grow up happier. A rift between them will have a harmful effect well into adulthood and as 1 million grandparents lose touch after separation[2], a large proportion of the UK children are suffering. 

Government and the family law system are encouraging this rift, rather than protecting families against it. Grandparents still have to ask permission of the courts prior to making an application for contact with their grandchildren, even though in the ‘Support for all – The Families and Relationships Green Paper’ this step was proposed to be removed. Asking permission is not only stressful but can be prohibitively costly, sometimes ensuring that a relationship is lost. It is surprising that further steps have not been taken. The fact that grandparents are estimated to contribute the equivalent of £3.9 billion of childcare each year, according to Age Concern in 2004, is further reason why Government should be supporting this relationship.

Craig Pickering, FNF CEO says ‘children are losing one of the most valuable and delightful relationships of their lives at much emotional and psychological cost. It is vital that there are reforms to nurture contact between grandparents and children.’

Gloria Hunniford, in her foreword to the 2009 research paper Beyond the Nuclear: Including the Wider Family, said ‘it is time for the Government to harness the love and attention that Grandparents yearn to give to their families.’

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Key family justice seminar focussing on issues affecting children who are relocated following family breakdown

On Tuesday 9th November, an important family justice seminar is taking place in the House of Commons to highlight the need for a review and reform of child related relocation law. Relocation is a major cause of distress for the child and the parent left behind following family breakdown and risks the loss of a relationship between the child, one parent and their wider family.

The key legal judgment in relocation cases, Payne v Payne made in 2001, gave guidance which the courts have no choice but to follow. The principles behind that guidance remained unchallenged and largely unchanged since the 1970s (Payne v Payne [2001] EWCA Civ 166 and Poel v Poel [1970] 1 WLR 1469 CA). The premise behind Payne v Payne is that not allowing the primary carer to take their child to live in another country will so impact on the primary carer’s psychological well-being that the child will be caused harm. In 40 years, no evidence has been published that supports this premise.

Craig Pickering, FNF CEO said “there is a growing interest in the issue of relocation from the legal community, politicians and academics alike. Allowing children to be too easily removed from a loving parent and wider family needs to end, to reflect parenting in the twenty first century and to help make the law truly in the best interests of the child. Currently there is a review of the family justice system taking place and we need to ensure that this area is not ignored.”

“Since the courts’ current guidance came into being, 15 academic studies have highlighted risks to children through separation from parents. Relocation abroad is at the severe end of the spectrum” said Michael Robinson, who heads the campaign to reform relocation law. “Decisions are being made which do not adequately protect children from harm.” A report published on 8th November 2010 ahead of the seminar highlights the psychological, educational and developmental risks to children caused by children being separated from one parent.

Ann Thomas, Managing Partner of the International Family Law Group, London said “the law on child relocation has not changed for 40 years yet parenting patterns and family expectations today are unrecognisable from those of the 1970s.  Unintentionally, by favouring the mother as residential parent, the law has become gender discriminatory and often too little interest is placed on the children’s real interests as the parents battle over their future in Court.  It must change.  The change must also embrace opportunities to resolve matters outside of court, with specialist mediators and innovative schemes such as Relocation Dispute Resolution hearings.”

Professor Marilyn Freeman, who is speaking at the seminar said “there is an international momentum building towards establishing a common approach to relocation disputes, but this has to be based on a scientific understanding of both the impact of relocation disputes on children and young people, as well as what is in the individual child's best interests in these circumstances. Research is urgently required to enable families and decision makers to identify both the risk and protective factors in these cases in order to determine whether relocation will be in the individual child's best interests, or whether it will be harmful for the individual child.”

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The Chancellor’s announcement of spending cuts in the Comprehensive Spending Review includes some swingeing cuts in family justice and children’s policy. 

Families Need Fathers (FNF) recognises that in the current financial and economic climate the Government judges that such cuts are necessary. What would be disastrous would be to apply these cuts across the board, paying no attention to whether individual activities improve the lives of children and the family justice system, or damage them. We welcome the Chancellor’s ambition to reform the public services in ways that are fair and reflect the 21st century, not the 1950s. There can be no finer example than the Family Justice System.

Craig Pickering, Chief Executive of Families Need Fathers, said: “The government can save around £100 millions a year while making significant reforms of the family justice system. We need the scalpel, not the hatchet.”

FNF’s view is that the Government can reform the family justice system while achieving significant savings.  These can be made in three main ways. 

First, what is needed is a presumption of shared parenting. 60% of women who divorce go onto welfare benefits immediately. A presumption of shared parenting would result in more children having both parents fully involved in their lives, and this means more financial support by parents, more time for both parents to work and less pressure on the welfare budget.

Second, the Government needs to reform the legal aid system so as to balance access to the family courts while ensuring that one parent does not abuse legal aid and the courts to deprive the child of the other parent’s involvement in their life. Approximately a quarter of the £2.2 billion legal aid budget is spent on family cases and this has been slowly increasing. 

Third, the private law functions of Cafcass, the service that advises judges in family law cases, should be slimmed down and re-focused to investigate fully the private law cases where there are allegations of abuse, and taken out of the majority of cases where Cafcass is not needed. 

Some of these savings should be used to provide better education for divorcing and separating parents and mediation. That is a much better way forward in the great majority of cases. 90% of family cases are agreed through mediation in Sweden, which is cheaper and quicker than the alternative of going to court.

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Families Need Fathers welcomes the Prime Minister’s speech on Families and Relationships today where he underlined the importance of children having a relationship with both of their parents after separation. He made the point that ‘relationships really matter for children, whether their parents are together or not’ and emphasised that Government needs to be there for families of all shapes and help love and support thrive within them.

Craig Pickering, FNF CEO, commented that ‘it’s excellent that the Prime Minister has recognised the importance of keeping both parents significantly involved in a child’s life, whether they are together or separated. What he says about the wider significance of parental involvement shows that there’s a gain elsewhere. Businesses, for example, can help their bottom line by ensuring that parents having difficulties with seeing their children are signposted to the right places for help.”

The Prime Minister identified the importance of fathers’ involvement in parenting, citing findings that their early participation makes a family ‘a third less likely to split.’

FNF is also encouraged by David Cameron’s intention to give more ‘direct help’ to separating parents to ensure that children’s needs are looked out for.

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