Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the review, entitled What works to enhance inter-parental relationships and improve outcomes for children, published in March 2016, what steps his Department is taking to support the training of the future workforce to deliver the expert couple interventions.

The Early Intervention Foundation review showed that children exposed to frequent, intense and poorly resolved conflict between their parents are at risk of poorer long term outcomes. Our new approach to relationship support responds to this evidence.

Since April 2016 we have doubled the funding available for relationship support for the remainder of this Parliament. From 2017/18 we will be contracting for relationship support services which will include help targeted at the most disadvantaged families experiencing relationship distress. As part of this approach we will be working to build the capability of key professionals on the frontline to identify conflict within the family and to provide first line help as well as effective referral. We will also continue to build on our work with local authorities to embed proven interventions into local service design. This means more families will have access to programmes with stronger evidence of impact.