Parental Responsibility

Definition Parental Responsibility is a concept that replaced the idea of ‘parent’s rights’. It was introduced by the Children Act 1989 and is defined in Part 1 Section 3 (1) as: ..’all the rights, duties, powers and responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property.’ This is also extended to anyone who is a guardian of a child in certain circumstances. Parental Responsibility cannot be surrendered or transferred to someone else. It can only be ended on application to the Court by the person with Parental responsibility or, with the Court’s consent, by the child. Many people refer to ‘Parental Responsibility’ simply as ‘PR’. Who has parental responsibility?

• The biological mother of the child.
• Married fathers (who do not lose it even on divorce)
• Unmarried fathers of a child born prior to 1^st December 2003 do not have automatic parental responsibility but may obtain it by:
• Marrying the mother
• Having their name registered or re-registered on the birth certificate
• Becoming the child’s guardian
• Unmarried fathers of a child born after 1^st December 2003 have automatic parental responsibility for their children if they have registered as the father
• Anyone who has a Residence Order in force in respect of a child he/she is currently looking after
• Adoptive parents
• A parent who was not married to the child’s mother, but who has acquired PR though a written agreement with the child’s mother or through a Court Order.
• A step parent who has formally adopted the children of his spouse where he is not the natural father.

Who does not have parental responsibility?

• Unmarried Fathers of a child born prior to 1^st December 2003 who have not taken action as described above Grandparents or other relatives
• Unmarried fathers of a child born after 1^st December 2003 who have not registered as the father or taken action described above.
• Step parents who have not formally adopted the child.

Implications for childcare settings.

• On registration, it is important to know has PR for the child.
• Only the parents with PR can register a child in a provision and sign consent forms, including for medical treatment.
• Children may be collected from the setting by someone who does not have PR with consent of the parent who does.
• Divorced parents retain equal PR and one parent can only declare that the other must not collect the child if there is a Court Order to substantiate it, in the absence of any amicable agreement between parents.
• Where unmarried parents separate, the mother retains PR, but the father only retains PR if he acquired it by the means as above. Again, only a Court Order can decide who may or may not collect a child from the setting where there is no amicable arrangement made between the parents.
• Where the father did not have PR, the mother may declare that the father cannot collect the child.

NB For fathers who do not have PR, but have care of the child, the law accepts that they may ‘do what is reasonable in all circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare’. (S3.5 (a)(b).

Updated April 2019