The government has announced plans to repeal the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989.
The government says that this measure is being introduced, when parliamentary time allows, to better protect children within the family justice system who may be exposed to further harm by court-ordered child arrangements with an abusive parent.
What is the presumption of parental involvement?
Where possible, separated parents should try to make arrangements for their children between themselves. However, it is not uncommon for separated parents to require assistance from the court in making child arrangements for a variety of reasons but in particular when there are safeguarding concerns and/ or allegations of domestic abuse. When the court’s assistance is necessary, the court, when determining arrangements, will apply principles from the Children Act 1989 to determine cases.
One of the key principles within the act is the presumption of parental involvement.
Consequently, there is a presumption that it is in the best interests of the child to maintain a relationship with both parents upon separation, unless there is evidence to suggest that the involvement of a parent would put the child’s safety at risk or cause the child harm.
The presumption of parental involvement has been a contentious issue in cases involving findings of domestic abuse.
Recent research by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner reported the family justice system is contributing to a pro-contact culture and was heavily criticised within the report at failing to recognise all types of domestic abuse, subsequently leading to decisions being made in favour of abusive parents over the safety of children.
Why is the presumption of parental involvement being removed?
The Ministry of Justice’s Harm Panel Report in 2020 demonstrated evidence of the family court as having a pro-contact culture and within the report made recommendations to undertake a review of the presumption of parental involvement. The review was completed in October 2025 and has been published along with its findings.
The review found the most likely outcome for child arrangement applications, even those involving domestic abuse or harm, was unsupervised, direct contact. Another significant finding of the review was that the presumption of parental involvement was identified as one of a number of factors contributing to the pro-contact culture and as a result leading to these harmful decisions.
Consequently, the government announced that the presumption of parental involvement will be repealed and, made the following statement in a press release which can be accessed in full here:- “Although the current law includes safeguards to restrict involvement where it’s detrimental to a child’s welfare, removing this law sends a clear signal that the Government is placing the wellbeing and safety of children at the forefront of decision making.”
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