Child Welfare In Relationship Breakdown

Policy Proposal

Ken Thomson, Spokesperson on Children and Families

Children and Family

A secure and stable family is the backbone of our society allowing children to be brought up with love and support from both mother and father grandparents and extended family. This is the ideal and concessions should be made to families to incentivise that love and support through the tax system to achieve the maximum stability in the traditional family unit for children managed by HMRC.

Relationship Breakdown

We understand that families do break down, and when they do, more support should be available for families going through troubled times.

Our policy is that when families break down the presumption is shared care and both fathers and mothers should share custody of the children spending equal time with them. Where that is not possible it is up to the parents to decide sensible arrangements where both parents spend quality time with their children.

The Family Courts

Families currently are often subjected to damaging disputes over residence, childcare contact and parental and grandparental time spent with children. The historical position has been that the children reside with the mother. In this modern-day society, that bias is no longer tenable. Presumption should be that both parents have shared care of their children as is the case in some Scandinavian countries.  https://www.sharedparenting.scot/sweden-leads-the-way-in-shared-parenting/ Separated parents are free to negotiate alternative arrangements which work for them.

Our belief is that the criminal court system, the setting for the secret family courts, is the wrong place to decide issues of custody, shared care and contact and this should be considered by an impartial panel with no vested interest or financial interest called the Family Dispute Service. Where disagreement exists between parents’ matters will be considered by this body within a specified time of a maximum of 4 weeks. The current court system often treats the non-residential parent often as criminals and process can take many months if not years to resolve and, in many cases, never be resolved. Children are often deprived one parent during this process for extended periods of time with is unacceptable and damaging to families and children. This is not in the best interests of children or parents and society to allow this to continue.

The Child Maintenance Service

The child maintenance service (CMS) currently acts on an unjust basis where quite often, the non-resident parent is responsible for an inappropriate level of maintenance to support children residing in the resident parents’ home regardless of whether regular contact takes place.

Parents who struggle to keep up with maintenance arrangements account for one quarter of all the suicide cases in the UK today, male and female. The CMS current policy is helping to drive a suicide rate which is wholly unacceptable and, in many cases, driving poverty and distress. It is our policy that the CMS should be abolished. The presumption of shared care under our policy would mean that in general parents pay their own way during the time that they spend with their own children. Where income levels are disparate, maintenance should be paid at a reasonable level agreed by the parents, or if dispute emerges, considered by the Family Dispute Service in conjunction with HMRC.

Parental Alienation

Where parental alienation is an issue, the Family dispute service will investigate expediently, and resolution delivered which will be enforceable by the courts. Where false allegations are shown, or on the weight of balance suspected, these will be treated most seriously, limited supervised contact being allowed for the false accuser until the accused parent decides to increase contact or resume shared care or the Family Dispute Service decides appropriate. This will be reviewed by the Parental Disputes Panel quarterly.

Parental Alienation is a crime, and anyone found of denying contact between children and a loving good enough parent by coercion, psychological child abuse, intimidation or false allegations will be charged and tried through the criminal courts.

Exceptions

We acknowledge there are substantial savings to be made in the implementation of these policies and that is very welcome, but we think that it is more important that children can grow up with the love and support of both parents, increasing their prospects in terms of life chances better mental health, rounded upbringing, and the joy that parents’ grandparents and extended families bring to a child growing up.

We also acknowledge that there are bad parents who should not have input or contact with their own children, cases of pregnancy through rape, repeated violent offenders and domestic abusers should be excluded from the parenting process and pay maintenance where appropriate at the level stipulated governed by HMRC decided by the Parental Dispute Service (PDS).

Parental Consent

Parental consent is the foundation of our education and medical system, parents will have all rights for the child’s development until the age of 18. Both parents should agree on a course of action and where there is dispute, the Family Dispute service may be asked to form an opinion and ruling on any issue, this will be conducted with a four-week period from raining an issue till judgement. The Family Dispute Council will be conducted and executed under a time-honoured tradition with respect to cultural norms.

False allegations

False allegations must be treated with the utmost seriousness by the criminal courts. Where a sheriff of or Judge suspects false allegations, they must be investigated. Trial must be set, and judgement must be delivered. A strong sentence must be delivered of jail time appropriate to the conviction of the accused should they be found guilty. Judges must be accountable for their decisions, they must be open, reviewed open to criticism and sanctions made on judges if wayward decisions made.

In some instances where criminal charges and proceedings are found to be based on false allegations, the courts may act to sanction the false accuser, this rarely happens in the family court even though family, individuals and children’s lives may be ruined by them. This must change to be treated fairly.

Change in the legal service.

The legal positions of solicitors, QC’s and Barristers must be open for scrutiny. Within the law profession, if not fully public.

Change in the Tax system regarding maintenance payments

Tax should be calculated after maintenance payments have been made not before.

Tax should be considered on payments made to the receiving party, it should be treated as income for mortgage companies and other considerations.

Savings

Legal and court Fees.

Legal Aid Service savings.

Increase in revenue to Exchequer through unproductive parents.

Savings to police service on false allegations.

Savings to NHS through depression and ill health.

Increase revenue to the exchequer through reduction in suicide.

Savings from reduction in court cases.

Increase in revenue to exchequer within 20 years from children being more productive.

Savings in financial support to vested interest family breakup charities.

Additional Costs

Set up and management of the Family Dispute Service.

Lost revenue to the CMS through maintenance payments.

Lost revenue to exchequer through lower legal fees.