Schedule 6
Welfare Reform Bill
11:45 am
Paul Rowen (Rochdale, Liberal Democrat)
That was very much the point I was seeking to make. At the moment, the mother can deny the father the right to register his name on the birth certificate. This procedure alters that and, by so doing, the father automatically acquires parental responsibility. Previously, the father would have had to go to the courts proactively, but now he will acquire those rights and it will be for the mother to go to the courts.
I am thinking of a scenario involving a father in an estranged couple exercising his responsibilities. There might well be disputes about registration of the family name or religion. According to figures that I have been given by Refuge, more than 30 per cent. of all violence starts or gets worse during pregnancy. Whereas, at the moment, the onus is on the father to go to the courts, with the change under schedule 6, it will be on the mother. I am asking the Minister to have another look at the workings of the measure. Without further safeguards, we will find that vulnerable women will be forced either to accept what the father is doing—a lot of women will be in that position—or to go through the courts to obtain some protection.
Sometimes there will have been a clean break and the mother will have moved away. She may be trying not to have any contact with the father, but if he exercises that right, he can use it as a lever to get at her. There are real concerns there, and if the Minister agrees to look at how the process might operate, I am sure that a lot of people will be reassured. Perhaps we can make some changes at a later stage to give these women the protection that they deserve.