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1-20 of 26 results for subject:Separation

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2016

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To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information the Government holds on the incidence of relationship break-up among people aged over 50 years of age in each of the last five years.

Asked by
Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party)
Answering body
Cabinet Office
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
13 July 2016
Reference
41824
House
House of Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on trends in the prominence of relationship break-up as a contributory cause of suicide over the last five years.

Asked by
Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party)
Answering body
Department of Health
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
11 July 2016
Reference
41825
House
House of Commons

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions have taken place with the government of Bangladesh about reforms of religious laws on marriage, divorce and separation and their impact on women's economic situation.

Asked by
Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead (Labour)
Answering body
Department for International Development
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Date
3 May 2016
Reference
HL7705
House
House of Lords

What steps he is taking to support the wellbeing of children when parents are going through a separation.

Asked by
Stephen Metcalfe (Conservative)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Withdrawn
Date
3 May 2016
Reference
904891
House
House of Commons

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prioritise the wellbeing of children when their parents are going through separation.

Asked by
Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative)
Oral questions - Lead
Status
Answered
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 cc1121-3
House
House of Lords

My Lords, we are prioritising the well-being of children by helping parents resolve conflict during separation. We have doubled funding for relationship support for couples to £70 million during this Parliament and our innovation fund has worked with around 30,000 separated families to help them collaborate in the best interests of their children.

Answered by
Baroness Altmann (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1121
House
House of Lords

My Lords, we are all aware that post-conflict separation is very harmful for children and is often exacerbated by disputes over child maintenance payments, especially when government agencies are involved. Will my noble friend update the House on how the 2012 child maintenance reforms are working as regards payments made within family arrangements?

Asked by
Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative)
Oral questions - 1st Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1121
House
House of Lords

My Lords, I am delighted to report that our 2012 reforms have been a huge success so far. They have incentivised separating families to make their own arrangements rather than using the statutory system as a default option, as co-operation between parents is clearly better for their children. Seventy per cent of clients using the service are choosing direct pay.

Answered by
Baroness Altmann (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1121
House
House of Lords

Will the Minister set out how her department is working with the Department of Health and the Department for Education to ensure that children whose parents are separating receive the support they need both through child and adolescent mental health services and counselling in schools?

Asked by
Baroness Tyler of Enfield (Liberal Democrat)
Oral questions - Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1121
House
House of Lords

My Lords, the department is working with other departments in a cross-government strategy to support children, with a lot more funding for mental health issues and co-operation between the various departments.

Answered by
Baroness Altmann (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1121
House
House of Lords

My Lords, “so far” is a telling phrase. The Minister talked about the CSA but the Government are in the process of shutting down all CSA cases and telling parents that if they want to apply to the new scheme they have got to hand over one-fifth of all the money to the DWP in fees. However, they are allowed to apply to the new scheme only if they first ring a phone line and let someone on the other end of the phone try to talk them out of it and

tell them to go away and make a deal with their ex directly. Mrs Thatcher set up the CSA to make sure that parents pay for their kids even if they are separated from the other parent. If there are any grounds to the growing concern that parents will end up paying less money to children than they have in the past, will the Minister accept that the strategy has failed and needs to be reviewed?

Asked by
Baroness Sherlock (Labour)
Oral questions - Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1121
House
House of Lords

The noble Baroness clearly has significant expertise in this area, but I have to say that the current system, which was set up in 2012, does not automatically take 20% of the payments. As I say, the point of the new system is to encourage parents to make their own arrangements. It is only if they do not use the direct payment method that they will pay the additional premium for that service.

Answered by
Baroness Altmann (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1122
House
House of Lords

My Lords, the noble Baroness has reminded me—

Member
Baroness Sherlock (Labour)
Type
Oral question time interventions
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1122
House
House of Lords

No!

Type
Oral question time interventions
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1122
House
House of Lords

My Lords, I am sorry. It is a declaration of interest. I apologise to the House. I should have declared a historic interest in that five years ago I was a board member of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. That is all I wanted to say.

Member
Baroness Sherlock (Labour)
Type
Oral question time interventions
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1122
House
House of Lords

My Lords, it is obvious that children who are not informed about what is happening to their parents when they are separating do much less well than those who are kept in the loop. What will the Government do to make this one of the really important aspects? Parents must let their children know, even at an early age, what is actually happening and make them part of the decision-making, or at least give them an understanding of what the future is going to be.

Asked by
Baroness Butler-Sloss (Crossbench)
Oral questions - Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1122
House
House of Lords

The noble and learned Baroness makes another good point. We have been trialling interventions with our innovation fund where we are using the voice of the child to make sure that we include children in the conflict situation. We are also working with the Ministry of Justice to make those interventions work.

Answered by
Baroness Altmann (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1122
House
House of Lords

My Lords, is my noble friend aware of the proposals from the Scottish Government, which will be implemented this summer, for every child in Scotland under the age of 18 to have appointed for them a state guardian whose job it is to make sure that the parents are doing their duty? Can she reassure the House that if Scottish parents or parents living in Scotland move south, this outrageous scheme will not be continued in England?

Asked by
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative)
Oral questions - Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1122
House
House of Lords

I can indeed assure the House that there are no such plans.

Answered by
Baroness Altmann (Conservative)
Type
Oral answers to questions
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1122
House
House of Lords

My Lords, does my noble friend support the idea of child contact centres being made available in every local authority area to enable parents who are not of wealthy means to have contact with their children? Were one fortunate enough to have a Private Member’s Bill on this in the next Session, would my noble friend support it?

Asked by
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative)
Oral questions - Supplementary
Status
Answered
Date
27 April 2016
Reference
771 c1122
House
House of Lords