Penalties for mothers blocking child access
Mothers who deny ex-husbands access to their children could be forced to pay them compensation under proposals unveiled by ministers today.
A Green Paper will propose giving judges new powers to force mothers to allow contact between father and child.
Legislation being drawn up by the Department for Constitutional Affairs will give the courts the right to require mothers to repay costs to fathers if they change arrangements at the last moment.
For example, the mother would have to pay the father's travel costs if he travelled to see the children but was denied access.
Ministers hope the threat of a financial penalty will encourage mothers to recognise the rights of fathers to see their children. The shake-up of child custody laws could also require parents to attend classes enabling them to understand the other's point of view.
They would be encouraged to try mediation rather than leaving the courts to decide who should bring up the children.
The consultation paper stops short of automatically assuming divorced parents should have an equal share of the child's time.
"The only presumption we shall be working on is the best interests of the child," said a Whitehall source. "Children are not like a CD collection you just split up and distribute."
Ministers will be accused of bowing to pressure from fathers' groups, who have staged a series of headline-grabbing protests in recent months.
In a recent stunt demonstrators beat Commons security to pelt Tony Blair with flour during Prime Minister's questions. Another protester brought major traffic chaos to London when he staged a four-day protest after climbing a crane near Tower Bridge.
Fathers 4 Justice - the most militant of the pressure groups - said today's proposals did not go far enough.
"This is the shabbiest form of politicking in the week when Tony Blair launched a five-year plan to combat anti-social behaviour." said Matt O'Connor, the founder of Fathers 4 Justice.
"Ministers just cannot seem to see the link between fatherlessness and the explosion in young offending."
