It should be easier for grandparents and siblings to take on parental responsibilities if a parent is unable to look after their child, Labour's Kerry McCarthy has argued.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9506000/9506080.stm

Under legislation proposed by Ms McCarthy on 7 June 2011, a "kinship carer" would be able to assume responsibility for a child without a lengthy and expensive legal process if the child's parents agree.

She said up to 300,000 children in the UK were being raised by relatives or friends of a parent who could not look after their child.

Introducing her Kinship Carers (Parental Responsibility Agreement) Bill she told MPs: "Often these children have experienced tragedy or trauma due to the death or imprisonment of a parent or due to a parent's alcohol or drug misuse or mental health problems.

"Sometimes their parent has simply walked out on them."

She said the carers stepped in when there was a crisis "without pausing to think about practical matters such as what the legal arrangement would be or what sort of support they might need".

The bill was given an unopposed first reading but stands little chance of becoming law without government support.