Wednesday 30 December 2015

Additional funding set for post adoption support in 2016/17

Children & Young People Now reports that Local Authorities are set to be given additional funding to provide support for adopted children.

The Department for Education has told Adoption UK to expect a rise in the £19.3m figure that was provided for the current 2015/16 fund.

The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) is available for councils to apply for funding, to provide numerous services to help adopted children recover from previous experiences - such as: cognitive therapy, play and music therapy, and intensive family support.

Since the fund was established, around 1,800 applications have been approved for support for around 2,000 children.

The Department for Education is set to make an announcement in the New Year concerning exactly how much the ASF is set to receive during 2016.

Wednesday 16 December 2015

Update on the 'no fault divorce proposal'

I have been away from blogging for a while - apologies if you have missed me.

Picking up from an October post regarding a ‘no fault divorce’ proposal that was put froward by the Conservative MP - Richard Bacon, it seems as though this is gaining some momentum.  The bill is to receive it’s second reading at the end of January.

Resolution chair Jo Edwards commented:

”We are pleased to see Richard Bacon's bill having a second reading. If MPs are serious about reducing family conflict and the trauma that can be caused by divorce, I would urge them to support the bill as a welcome step towards removing the requirement of fault from divorce.

The article - that is covered in full in Family Law week - details the published research by Resolution (YouGov June 2015) that shows that the fault based nature of divorce in England and Wales has driven 27% of divorcing couples to make false allegations in court.  This relates to data on those divorcing within two years of a marriage breakdown.

The research also highlighted that 52% of divorce petitions were fault-based, alleging either unreasonable behaviour or adultery.

It will be interesting to see how the discussions on the proposals go when MP's debate it on 22nd January 2016.