“Parental responsibility” refers to and includes all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and their property (see sections 2 and 3 of the Children Act 1989).

More than one person may have parental responsibility for the same child at the same time, and a person does not cease to have that responsibility solely because some other person subsequently acquires parental responsibility for the child.