Family law solicitors have this week welcomed new steps aimed at helping families resolve disputes - but have warned that more funding must be put in place if the initiatives are to work properly.

Launching a package of measures this week, the government said it would free up an extra £7.5 million to support families involved in relationship breakdowns, which will mainly go towards avoiding litigation. It aims to steer families towards court-based mediation and conciliation projects instead.


The strategy emphasises the importance of family law solicitors gaining accreditation as mediators and to take part in telephone legal advice and collaborative law pilots.


The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, admitted that the current system is not working, particularly in relation to reasonable contact between parents and children. He said the draft Family Law Bill, which is expected within the next two weeks, would also address courts' enforcement powers when it came to parents who are unreasonably denied contact.


Resolution - formerly the Solicitors Family Law Association - welcomed recognition that a range of orders should be available, including fines, community service and imprisonment. 'Change of residence and instituting care proceedings would be a final resort,' it said.


Christina Blacklaws, chairwoman of the Law Society's family law committee, also welcomed the news, although she stressed that family law solicitors were already subject to stringent accreditation procedures.


But she added: 'If the government is serious about having more solicitor-mediators on the ground, it needs to produce the funding because the current rates of pay are appalling.'