More money to help separating families

An extra £20 million will be made available to support separated and separating families as part of the radical overhaul of the Child Maintenance system, Ministers have announced.

The money, which doubles government spending on relationship support in 2012/13, is part of the radical reforms to mend the broken child support system.

It will help families work out their own arrangements, rather than trapping them in the current outdated system, which has been shown to be expensive and divisive and does not put children first.

A steering group of voluntary and community sector experts as well as academics have advised on how best this money should be used to coordinate existing organisations on the ground.

Karen Woodall, Director of the Centre for Separated Families, who are part of the steering group said:

"We are absolutely delighted that the government is making this money available to help parents make their own family-based child maintenance arrangements. Support services, such as those proposed, will offer parents the kind of help they so desperately need around not just maintenance but other post separation issues, too."

"We know that parents who make their own private arrangements are not only happier with them, but that those arrangements tend to last longer, work better and are more flexible in responding to children's changing needs."