The intention is that both parents should feel that they have a continuing role to play in relation to their children .sx 2.24. Section 2(5 ) provides that more than one person may have parental responsibility for a child at the same time and by section 2(6 ) a person with parental responsibility for a child does not lose it just because some other person subsequently acquires it .sx Thus , the making of a residence order in favour of one parent does not take away parental responsibility from the other .sx Nor do the parent or parents of a child lose parental responsibility when a third party who is neither parent nor guardian of the child acquires parental responsibility , as an individual through the making of a residence order in his or her favour ( section 12(2) ) or a local authority , through the making of a care order ( section 33(3) ) ( although the latter also has the power to determine the extent to which a parent or guardian of the child may meet his parental responsibility for him once the child is in care ( section 33(3)(b))) .sx 2.25. It is provided by section 2(7 ) that , where parental responsibility is shared , each may act independently of the other in meeting that responsibility .sx Thus , although the making of a residence order in favour of one parent may curb the other parent's ability to act independently to the extent that in practice the day to day care of the child is largely controlled by the parent with whom the child lives , at least when the child is with the non-residential parent he or she may meet his or her parental responsibility to the full , without the need for consultation with the other parent .sx The only restrictions on this are that neither parent may act independently in matters where the consent of more than one person is expressly required by statute ( section 2(7) ) , for example under section 1 of the Child Abduction Act 1984 in relation to removal of the child from the United Kingdom or under section 16 of the Adoption Act 1976 in relation to agreement to an adoption order ; nor may either parent act in any way that is incompatible with any order made in respect of the child ( section 2(8)) .sx Thus , for example , one parent may not remove the child from the physical care of the parent ( or indeed any other person ) with whom the child is to live by virtue of a residence order but could take the same interest as any other parent in his child's education .sx 2.26. By section 12(2 ) the making of a residence order in favour of a person who is neither parent nor guardian of a child has the effect of conferring parental responsibility on him or her while the residence order remains in force .sx However , he or she , like a local authority with a care order in its favour ( see section 33(6) ) , does not acquire the right to consent or refuse consent to the making of an application to free the child for adoption or to the making of an adoption order , or the right to appoint a guardian .sx By section 12(1 ) , where a residence order is made in favour of an unmarried father the court must also make an order under section 4 giving him parental responsibility ; under section 12(4 ) , this must not be brought to an end while the residence order concerned remains in force .sx Indeed , if the residence order is subsequently discharged the order giving him parental responsibility will continue unless and until it is specifically revoked .sx In such cases it will usually be in the child's interests for his father to retain parental responsibility for him in just the same way that a married father does .sx 2.27. Another effect of a residence order is that no person may cause the child to be known by a new surname nor remove him from the United Kingdom without either the written consent of every person who has parental responsibility for him or the leave of the court ( section 13(1)) .sx This does not , however , prevent the person in whose favour the residence order has been made from removing the child for a period of less than one month ( section 13(2)) .sx There is no limit on the number of these short trips , however , and if the non-residential parent feels that the child is being taken out of the United Kingdom too frequently or that there is a danger of abduction he or she should seek a prohibited steps order .sx 2.28. A residence order may be made in favour of more than one person at the same time even though they do not live together , in which case the order may specify the periods during which the child is to live in the different households concerned ( section 11(4)) .sx A shared residence order could therefore be made where the child is to spend , for example , weekdays with one parent and weekends with the other or term time with one parent and school holidays with the other , or where the child is to spend large amounts of time with each parent .sx This latter arrangement was disapproved of by the Court of Appeal in Riley v Riley ( 1986 ) 2 FLR 429 , which must now be taken to have been over-ruled by section 11(4 ) , but it is not expected that it will become a common form of order , partly because most children will still need the stability of a single home , and partly because in the cases where shared care is appropriate there is less likely to be a need for the court to make any order at all .sx However , a shared care order has the advantage of being more realistic in those cases where the child is to spend considerable amounts of time with both parents , brings with it certain other benefits ( including the right to remove the child from accommodation provided by a local authority under section 20 ) , and removes any impression that one parent is good and responsible whereas the other parent is not .sx Contact orders .sx 2.29. Unlike the present access order , which normally provides for a parent to have access to the child , the new contact order provides for the child to visit or stay with the person named in the order .sx The emphasis has thus shifted from the adult to the child .sx The new order may provide for the child to have contact with any person , not just a parent , and more than one contact order may be made in respect of a child .sx 'Contact' may range from long or short visits to contact by letter or telephone .sx It is anticipated that the usual order will be for reasonable contact , although the court will be able to attach conditions or make directions under section 11(7 ) where necessary .sx Contact orders , like residence orders will lapse if the parents subsequently live together for a period of more than six months ( section 11(5 ) and ( 6) .sx 2.30. Contact orders under section 8 must be distinguished from orders under section 34 for contact with a child in care .sx Section 8 contact orders cannot be made if the child is the subject of a care order , because in this case the local authority has a statutory duty to allow the child reasonable contact with his parents ( whether or not they both have parental responsibility ) , any guardian , and any other person with whom the child was to live by virtue of a residence order in force immediately before the care order was made .sx Section 34 contact orders will therefore only be made if it is necessary to limit , remove or define such contact , or to provide for contact with some other person .sx In the case of private individuals , however , it may sometimes be necessary to order them to allow reasonable contact , as well as to define what contact is to be allowed in particularly difficult or contentious cases .sx Occasionally , this may be necessary where a child is being provided with accommodation under section 20 and a dispute arises as to the contact which the foster parent or children's home should allow .sx It should be noted that a section 8 contact order is a positive order in the sense that it requires contact to be allowed between an individual and a child and cannot be used to deny contact .sx This would require a prohibited steps order .sx Prohibited steps orders .sx 2.31. Both prohibited steps orders and specific issues orders are concerned with 'single issues' and are modelled on the wardship jurisdiction .sx The purpose of the prohibited steps order , however , is to impose a specific restriction on the exercise of parental responsibility instead of the vague requirement in wardship that no 'important step' be taken in respect of the child without the court's consent .sx It could , for example , be used to prohibit a child's removal from the country where no residence order has been made and therefore no automatic restriction on removal applies or to prevent the child's removal from his home before the court has had time to decide what order , if any , should be made .sx A prohibited steps order may be made against anyone but can only prohibit " a step which could be taken by a parent in meeting his parental responsibility " for the child .sx It could not therefore be used , for example , to restrict publicity about a child since this is not within the scope of parental responsibility .sx Specific issue orders .sx 2.32. Specific issue orders may be made in conjunction with residence or contact orders or on their own .sx The aim , however , is not to give one parent or the other a general 'right' to make decisions about a particular aspect of the child's upbringing , for example his education or medical treatment , but rather to enable a particular dispute over such a matter to be resolved by the court , including the giving of detailed directions where necessary .sx 2.33. Although wardship will still be an available option in private disputes , the intention is that its use by individuals will be greatly reduced by the introduction of prohibited steps and specific issues orders .sx Local authority use of wardship has been severely restricted by section 100 , which provides that the jurisdiction cannot be used for the purpose of placing a child in care , or in local authority accommodation , or under the supervision of a local authority ( section 100(2 ) and paragraph 3.98 below) .sx Local authorities will , like anyone else , be able to apply for specific issue and prohibited steps orders , provided that they first obtain the court's leave ( see paragraph 2.43 below) .sx This will enable them to resolve certain issues which at present can only be resolved by making the child a ward of court , such as whether or not he should have a particular operation .sx They may arise where a child is accommodated voluntarily by the authority , is felt to be in need of a particular course of treatment urgently and the parents cannot be contacted .sx If , in all the circumstances of the case , the decision is likely to cause controversy at some future date , the local authority should seek a section 8 specific issue order .sx Local authorities will not , however , be able to do this if the child is subject to a care order , as the only section 8 order which may be made in such cases is a residence order .sx Nor can they apply for a prohibited steps or specific issue order as a way of obtaining the care or supervision of a child , nor to obtain an order that the child be accommodated by them , nor can a prohibited steps or specific issue order confer any aspect of parental responsibility upon an authority ( section 9(5)(b)) .sx 2.34. Similarly , a prohibited steps or specific issue order may not be made " with a view to achieving a result which could be achieved by making a residence or contact order " ( section 9(5)(a)) .sx This is to avoid either of these orders being used to achieve much the same practical results as residence and contact orders but without the same legal effects .sx