Schedule 6
Welfare Reform Bill
11:15 am
Paul Rowen (Rochdale, Liberal Democrat)
The Liberal Democrats support the principle of joint registration. We know that only one parent is named in about 7 per cent. of all births registered at the moment, and we believe that we should encourage and seek as far as possible for both parents to be registered on the birth certificate.
However, we have some concerns about the phraseology of the schedule and the clause, which is very much based on there being a violent relationship and the registration of the birth being used by the father to get at the mother or the child. Amendment 105 seeks to extend the provisions in the Bill to not just the child who has been registered, but any other children who may be living with the mother, where the mother can give a reason for not registering their birth. There are instances where fathers have used the ability to get contact with a child to get at the mother. I am asking the Minister what safeguards she will put in place against that.
To remind the Minister, she said on 12 February that
“if it is reasonably thought that the father is of such character that the very act of contacting him would lead to aggression towards the mother or the child, it is right that the state should not do something that would probably have such an unfortunate outcome.”——[Official Report, Welfare Reform Public Bill Committee, 12 February 2009; c. 85, Q154.]
I totally agree with those sentiments. With amendment 105 we are seeking to broaden the exemptions within the Bill so that the father is not enabled to get to another child. We believe that we should not just be concerned about the safety of the child whose birth is registered.