What the free Christmas travel credit scheme means for armed forces families.
The new travel scheme will help thousands of UK service personnel to get home for Christmas for free. Learn who this will help, how to benefit, and how it affects separated parents too.
The Christmas Travel Scheme
Christmas: It’s the most wonderful (and expensive) time of the year!
It’s the time of year when most of us want to put work aside and spend quality time with those most important to us; our families. For thousands of armed forces personnel though, their nearest and dearest sadly aren’t always all that near at Christmas, as service personnel are often posted far from home.
This has meant that many personnel (particularly those early in their careers) are forced to make the unenviable choice between buying their partners and children the presents they want, or instead spending their hard earned cash on what can be a very expensive journey home and back. That is, until now.
The Prime Minister has revealed he is giving members of the armed forces a very special Christmas present this year, in the form of the government’s new Christmas travel credit scheme.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“Our Armed Forces make extraordinary sacrifices, and I know how important being with family is, and that is why today we’re announcing extra travel support for service personnel to be with their loved ones this Christmas.”
Home for Christmas
The new travel scheme, which is an extension of the existing Get You Home (Early Years) provision, will now allow 35,000 forces personnel (who previously weren’t eligible for travel expenses) to receive reimbursement for the cost of a return journey home this Christmas, so they can be home with the people they love, when it counts the most.
Early Career Service Personnel
This is a welcome change for around 30,000 junior personnel in years 2-5 of their military careers (a group particularly affected by postings far from home early in their service). They will now be able to claim back the cost of one return journey by rail (standard class tickets) or road (via self-service motor mileage allowance), any time between the 8th of December 2025 and the 31st of March 2026.
Separated Parents Benefit Too
This is also good news for 5,000 separated parents in the forces, with non-resident children, who will also now receive travel credit that will reunite them with their children this Christmas.
Families in Conflict
However, whilst this good news for many, we at Slee Blackwell understand all too well that there are still many other parents who will struggle to see their children during the festive season, not because of finances, but because of a breakdown in relationships with their co-parent and ex-partner.
It’s in situations like these that our experienced and compassionate lawyers in our Family Law Department have helped countless families to reach a fair and equitable arrangements that always put the needs of your children first.
Your Options for Christmas Contact With Your Children
In family law, there are a few ways to manage contact arrangements. When parents disagree about plans for seeing their kids, they may seek a resolution through mediation, negotiations though solicitors, or, in some cases, by making a court application.
The Children Act 1989, which outlines the foundation of family law in England and Wales, establishes that the child’s welfare is the court’s primary concern. When determining Christmas contact arrangements (or any other contact arrangements), the court assesses the child’s best interests using the welfare checklist, which includes:
o The child’s age and emotional needs
o The parents’ ability to cooperate and communicate effectively
o The child’s established routine and the potential disruption caused by changing arrangements
o The child’s own views, if they are old enough and mature enough to express them
o The history of contact and the quality of the relationship with each parent
The court will also consider whether one parent’s desire for contact is motivated by a wish to alienate the child from the other parent or to make contact difficult, rather than by what is best for the child.
The court’s aim is to make decisions that safeguard the child’s long-term welfare including at crucial dates in the calendar, such as Christmas, birthdays, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and the school holidays.
Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Before issuing court proceedings, parents are encouraged to mediation as the first step before resorting to court proceedings, in the hope that you can reach an agreement on contact arrangements amicably.
If mediation is unsuccessful or not appropriate (as it can be in cases of domestic abuse), then the next step will be to involve solicitors. In the courts of England and Wales, court applications can only be made on producing a MIAM certificate from a mediator.
Child Arrangements Orders for Christmas Contact
When the court is required to intervene, it may issue a Child Arrangements Order that specifies how Christmas contact with children (and other contact) will be determined. This may involve alternating Christmas Eve and Christmas Day between parents, or where practical, splitting the day to allow both parents time with the child. In some cases, the court may instead order additional time, such as during the school holiday period, to ensure the child maintains relationships with both parents without feeling rushed or stressed.
Conclusion
Christmas has the potential to be such a special time but also such a challenging time for families undergoing separation or divorce. The emotional strain of the process or court proceedings, combined with the desire to spend quality time with children during the holidays, can result in hostility and stress that neither parent, nor the children, needs.
If you are struggling to reach an agreement on Christmas contact with children, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We can help to resolve these issues and help you obtain an agreement that puts your children’s needs first and gives both you and them the Christmas you deserve together.
Call our free legal helpline today for initial guidance on 0333 888 0404 or email [email protected]
