Child Arrangements Orders
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of decision making in family court proceedings relating to child arrangements.
Answered by Catherine Atkinson
Judicial decisions in family court proceedings relating to child arrangements are a matter for the independent judiciary.
The Government is, however, committed to ensuring that outcomes in the family justice system prioritise the welfare of children. That is why in October 2025, we published the Review of the Presumption of Parental Involvement. The Review considered how decisions were made within private law children proceedings and the impact these decisions had upon child welfare. The published review can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68f5f5c206e6515f7914c7e3/Review_of_the_Presumption_of_Parental_Involvement_Final_Report_.pdf.
We are delivering reforms to address identified challenges in the system. These include the national rollout of Child Focused Courts, and the repeal of the presumption of parental involvement from the Children Act 1989 through the Courts and Tribunals Bill.
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