Last week Margaret Hodge, minister for children, and family justice minister Lord Filkin launched three 'family resolution pilots' in inner London, Brighton and Sunderland, aimed at preventing acrimonious and lengthy court cases. The pilots, which will run for a year and, if successful, be rolled out nationally, will mean both parents get a one-to-one session to agree a parenting plan.
The ministers also announced an additional 3.5m for child contact services, including funds for 14 new supervised centres where parents and children can have safe contact in a neutral environment. New forms will be introduced so that judges are aware of any accusations or instances of domestic violence from the start.
Mrs Hodge said, 'Our starting point is the principle that the welfare of the child must always be paramount in any decision-making concerning a child's future, including decisions relating to contact. Parenting lasts for life and children benefit from constructive parenting from both parents, even after separation of the parents themselves.'
Battles in the courts about contact and residence after divorce or separation can be harmful to children, she said. 'That's why we want divorcing or separating parents to reach agreement between themselves about arrangements for the future of their children.'
Mrs Hodge added, 'We recognise that there are times when it may be necessary for a case to involve the courts, such as those involving domestic violence. In those cases, we want to make sure the judge has all the information necessary to make a decision that is in the best interests of a child.'
Research backed by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has underlined the importance both of making sure that children are told clearly what is happening and of listening sensitively to what they have to say about decisions which affect them when parents split up. One in three children will experience parental separation before they are 16 and may face a period of unhappiness, low self-esteem, behaviour problems and loss of contact with the extended family.
Mavis Maclean, director of the Oxford Centre for Family Law and Policy at Oxford University, said, 'We need to move on from seeing the children of divorced and separated parents as having an experience which is essentially different from that of other children. All children experience a number of transitions that can be difficult for them, and for which they may require additional support.'
