The government has set out plans to change the rules on access arrangements for children whose parents split up.

A new green paper backed away from enshrining "shared parenting" in law.

But it pledged better information for parents, in-court conciliation and mediation and stronger powers for judges to enforce court orders.

Fathers' rights campaigners attacked the proposals, calling for a 50/50 access split between the two parents.

But children's minister Margaret Hodge defended the plans, saying the child "is not a CD you can pass between the parents".

"There is no gender presumption in the courts. There is not a gender bias," she added.

"The reality out there is that mothers on the whole take the prime responsibility for bringing up their children.

"When you get into the court, what tends to happen is the prime carer will get residence, but we still want to maintain access and contact with the father.

"Think of it in practical terms. Does a child want to spend 50 per cent of their time in one home and then in another? To make that a presumption of the law would not protect the child's interests."

Conciliation

She said the decisions were "really difficult and very, very painful" but insisted the interests of the child must come first.

"What we are trying to do is introduce conciliation and mediation before a case gets to court," Hodge added.

"The best thing for the youngster is actually if the parents decide between themselves, if it is done amicably.

"If we get to the position where the court has to take a decision, we have said the child's interests come first. We strongly believe a child's interest is best protected if they can maintain contact with both parents."

But Matt O'Connor of campaign group Fathers 4 Justice said the proposals did not go far enough.

"Most fathers will be choking on their cornflakes this morning at what is contained within this green paper," he told GMTV.

"This is a cynical exercise in recycling the existing legislation and presenting it as reform.

"The law has to have teeth. There are tens of thousands of fathers out there who have court orders, who have spent tens of thousands of pounds on orders which are not enforced.

"What we would like to see is the government to introduce a legal presumption of 50/50 parenting so both parents are treated equally in the eyes of the law.

"This government has failed to protect the best interests of children."