Legislate to require all Child Arrangements Orders to be subject to compulsory, automatic review hearings in the family court, for example at three-month and six-month intervals, with an expectation that both parents adhere to and engage with the process by law.

This review process should be free to the parties and built into the original order, so that distressed parents, often fathers, are not forced to issue fresh applications to the court at great emotional and financial cost simply to enforce an order that already exists. The aim is to ensure orders are working in practice, not just on paper, and to reduce the mental health strain caused by prolonged exclusion and repeated litigation. We think this would better protect children’s relationships with both parents.