Government launches new app aimed at separating parents
The Government has launched a web app, called “Sorting out Separation”, which offers parents advice and shows where they can access further support. It is, claims the government, a “one-stop-shop for any parent going through a separation”. Emma Alfieri reports.
The Department for Work & Pensions press release details a YouGov poll out today (commissioned by the DWP) which found that 300,000 families experience separation every year. The poll also found that around five million parents have gone through separation and further that over four million children now live in separated families – which is, it states, equal to a third of children in Britain.
Work and Pensions Minister, Steve Webb, said “The app covers everything from how to avoid a separation to coping with the emotional impact of breaking up, accessing legal or housing support and arranging child maintenance. The Department for Work and Pensions worked closely with the Department for Education and Ministry of Justice in developing the new service, in conjunction with the voluntary and community sector. It forms part of a £20m fund announced earlier this year to help support separating parents”.
Emma Alfieri from our family law team comments: “This app has no doubt been developed in light that legal aid funding for most family law cases will come to end in April next year. Whilst the app will be an informative tool for parents, it is certainly no substitute for taking specialist legal advice, which is always recommended on separation”.
For further help with family law matters please contact our family law team.