Grandparents win greater legal rights in Labour's family green paper

Children’s secretary Ed Balls announced plans to abolish the legal requirement for grandparents to apply for court permission to gain access to their grandchildren when contact is denied.

He claimed that grandparents were the unsung heroes when it comes to informal care arrangements and revealed measures to ensure children’s centres are more accessible and welcoming and the launch of a new website BeGrand, offering tips and advice on how grandparents can get more involved with their grandchildren’s lives.

Fathers are also to receive more support with a package of new measures including a Dads’ Guide, distributed through Bounty Packs, and guidance from the Royal College of Midwives on how they can better engage with fathers.

Other measures set out in the Green Paper include providing families with children under five, or expecting a child, with a clear minimum offer of services across health, early learning and care and employment and providing services with materials and training by the Family and Parenting Institute which they can use to make their provision more family friendly.

Dr Katherine Rake, Family and Parenting Institute’s chief executive, said, ‘Services need to demonstrate they are thinking about a range of family members including mothers, fathers, carers, grandparents, siblings, pregnant women, babies, children, teenagers and young people.
‘It also needs to think about the various family structures in Britain, including married and cohabiting couples, lone parents, teen parents, foster families, adopted families, non-resident mothers and fathers, same sex couples to name a few.’

Parents with disabled children will also be given more help through specialist relationship counselling services and flexible working for parents will be improved, with the possibility of changing the notice period for fathers for the two week paternity leave.

Currently fathers have to give at least 15 weeks’ notice to take up this entitlement.
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have also published their plans to make Britain more family-friendly.

Sector response

‘The Government’s renewed commitment to supporting children from birth onwards is particularly welcome, as is the additional support for children who often face the greatest challenges in maintaining positive relationships, including disabled children and children experiencing family separation.

The measures for fathers and grandparents are much-needed, as too often these key figures in children’s lives have not received enough support to help them build positive relationships with their children and grandchildren.’
Bob Reitemeier, Chief Executive, The Children’s Society

‘We are glad to see a promise to consult on the eligibility for paternity leave in today’s Green Paper. But we also need adequate levels of pay if fathers are to be encouraged to take leave.  That’s where employers can come in.
‘Many good employers offer contractual pay on top of statutory maternity pay.  We want many more employers to top up statutory paternity pay to full pay for the two weeks.’
Working Families Chief Executive, Sarah Jackson