Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the (a) effectiveness of those relationship support services provided by Relate which are funded from the public purse and (b) effect of those services on family stability.

We are working to improve outcomes for children and believe in the importance of tackling parental conflict to achieve this. We will shortly be publishing a green paper on Social Justice that will set out our strategy for taking this work forward.

The Department funds a range of services nationally that do good work to support families in need. Relate is one of a number of organisations funded by the Department to provide services to help reduce couple conflict and promote family stability.

All of the organisations are subject to a ‘payment by results’ arrangement where payments are only made once we are satisfied that an agreed service has been delivered. Alongside this we also monitor the effectiveness of the service by assessing improvements in key areas such as improved conflict resolution and relationship quality. While no formal assessment is being made into impact on family stability specifically, the services currently being delivered by Relate and similar services have been shown to have a positive effect on relationship quality, wellbeing and communication.