§ 13. Mr. David Chaytor (Bury, North)What representations he has received on the proposals for divorce information meetings contained in his consultation paper "Supporting Families". [61102]
§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Jack Straw)The consultation period on the document "Supporting Families" is due to run to 31 January next year. Once the consultation period has ended, the responses will be analysed. However, none of the responses received so far has focused specifically on the proposals for divorce information meetings, the policy concerning which is a matter for my right hon. and noble Friend the Lord Chancellor.
§ Mr. ChaytorI thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Will he tell the House how he intends to evaluate the pilot schemes that are currently being undertaken in that respect? Does he agree that the proposals in the consultation document run the risk of setting up a series of hurdles through which divorcing couples will have to run? There will have to be one meeting for couples by themselves; a second, for individuals, to obtain information about the divorce process; and a third, a meeting of groups of people, to get information about the property and financial implications. Is that not overkill in terms of advice and provision of information?
§ Mr. StrawThe points that my hon. Friend raises are important in considering which way we go forward on that difficult issue. On the one hand, there is the view that divorce should be considered to be an entirely private matter, in which there should be no encouragement to mediation by the state or by anybody else; on the other, because children are almost always involved in divorce cases, there is a public interest. Trying to find a way through that will be difficult; it is difficult for this Government, and it was difficult for the previous Government, but we hope that some improved arrangements will emerge from the consultation.