Pilot of child custody scheme has few takers

Ministers were left red-faced after only 23 couples from Brighton, London and Sunderland took advantage of a child contact resolution scheme in nine months. They had been hoping up to 1,000 would take part during the course of a year.

The Family Resolution scheme was devised to avoid protracted disputes and costly court battles over child custody between separated parents.

Parents who seek contact orders are encouraged to attend meetings with different agencies to find a way of agreeing arrangements with their ex-partners rather than entering lengthy legal disputes. The resulting parenting plan can then be ratified by a judge.

Parents who agree to take part meet with counsellors from Relate, the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (CAFCASS) and the Parent Support and Education Forum.

Mike Coote, CAFCASS service manager responsible for the Brighton pilot project, said: "We've had some positive feedback from parents who've participated in the pilot. There are early indications schemes such as this may have a stronger long-term influence in terms of better parenting post-separation and therefore better outcomes for children."

Children's minister Maria Eagle revealed to Parliament only 23 parenting plans had been secured in the first nine months of the pilot. They are spread between the three pilot areas. No detailed breakdown was available.

In a Parliamentary written answer, Ms Eagle said: "During the design phase of Family Resolutions it was estimated up to 1,000 parental couples could be eligible for consideration as participants in the pilot project during a full year of operation.

"As at 14 June, 47 couples have participated in the pilot and, of these, 23 couples have participated in the parent planning session."

The pilot project was expected to cost about £300,000 during the year and would be assessed until next April when ministers would make a decision on whether to roll out the scheme nationally.