Government unveils £14m fund to support separating families

Posted 25/06/2012

Divorcing parents could receive help through the separation process as a result of a new innovation fund that has been launched by the government.The Department of Work and Pensions revealed £14 million is going to be put into the scheme over the course of the next two years to promote collaborative parenting in separated families.Work and pensions minister Maria Miller stated intensive counselling, emotional support and mediation will be provided via the fund, while there will also be online and telephone advice.”These kinds of services are best delivered outside of government and there is considerable expertise, notably in the voluntary sector, of providing them,” she said, adding having both parents actively involved in bringing up a child is the best way, even if there is no option for the mother and father but to separate.Announcing a recent strengthening of separation laws, children’s minister Tim Loughton stated the aim is to help parents to resolve disputes out of court wherever possible.Sue Bailey, a family law solicitor in the Ashtons Legal Norwich team, adds: “Relationship breakdown is an emotional time for parents and it can be difficult for many to have constructive discussions with their ex-partner. Support and advice for parents in the early stages of relationship breakdown, encouraging them to focus on their children’s best interests, is likely to improve the experience of relationship breakdown for thousands of children a year in the UK.”Posted by Stephen Williams