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<p>The Government has not undertaken an assessment of the potential merits of giving
grandparents a statutory right of access to their grandchildren. We understand that
grandparents often play an important role in children’s lives and can provide stability
in families. However, when making any decision about a child’s upbringing the court’s
paramount consideration will always be the welfare of the child, based on the individual
facts of the case, no adult has a statutory right to access.</p><p> </p><p>Grandparents
can seek leave of the court to apply for ‘spending time with’ or ‘living with’ arrangements
through a child arrangements order. A grandparent may can also seek permission to
apply for a Special Guardianship Order, where they would be responsible for looking
after the child. This is available in both private and public law proceedings and
will be considered as one of the options for a child in care proceedings. Special
Guardianship Orders in private law proceedings were brought into the scope of legal
aid on 1 May 2023.</p><p> </p><p>We are also committed to supporting families to resolve
private family law matters outside of court where appropriate to ensure that matters
are resolved earlier, before conflict becomes entrenched.</p><p>In March 2021 the
Government launched the Mediation Voucher Scheme which provides £500 towards the cost
of mediation. As of April 2023, the scheme has helped over 17,000 families, including
grandparents to access mediation and resolve their issues away from the family court.</p>
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