In a major step toward strengthening family support, the UK government has unveiled significant investment in Family Hubs and online tools designed to help separating parents access guidance and dispute resolution options before entering the court system. This signals a meaningful shift toward early intervention, aiming to reduce conflict, promote co-parenting, and relieve the mounting pressure on family courts.
What are Family Hubs?
Family Hubs are evolving into the modern answer to outdated, fragmented family support services. Unlike traditional children’s centres, Family Hubs serve both children and their caregivers, offering access to a range of services under one roof.
Services typically include:
- Parenting programmes and co-parenting advice
- Mental health and emotional wellbeing support
- Access to mediation and relationship services
- Help with childcare, education and employment
- Support for issues like domestic abuse, addiction and housing
Family Hubs are placing a strong emphasis on support for separating families—a key group often overlooked in traditional welfare programmes. The aim is not only to provide support but to intervene early enough to prevent disputes from escalating to the courtroom.
Through Family Hubs, parents can:
- Access early legal advice or signposting to local mediation services
- Attend parenting workshops tailored to separation and co-parenting
- Participate in guided dispute resolution in a safe, neutral setting
- Engage in child-inclusive processes that centre the needs and voices of children
This proactive approach is a response to growing concerns that the family court system—strained by rising case volumes and lengthy delays—is not always the best or most efficient forum for family breakdown, especially for the children involved.
Helpful Online Tools
Alongside Family Hubs, the government has developed online guided pathways for separating families. These interactive platforms walk users through tailored advice and help identify the most appropriate dispute resolution routes—whether that be mediation, collaborative law, arbitration, or targeted support services.
Importantly, these tools are designed with accessibility in mind, helping users without legal representation navigate their choices early on—before a dispute becomes entrenched.
Impact on Legal Practice
For legal professionals, these developments offer both a challenge and an opportunity. While some may fear that early intervention reduces demand for litigation, many in the sector are embracing a more holistic view of client care.
Law firms can help by:
- Assisting with referrals to mediation or family hubs
- Providing empathetic communication at early stages of conflict
- Supporting clients in using digital tools to manage their documents and key timelines
- Promoting non-court resolution wherever appropriate
In time, this may contribute to a cultural shift where families see Solicitors not as courtroom gatekeepers, but as part of a wider ecosystem of early, constructive support.
Looking Ahead
The rollout of Family Hubs and digital help tools forms part of a long-overdue evolution in family law—one that recognises that resolution begins long before a court order is drafted.
As legal professionals, it’s important to stay up to date with these changes—not only to provide accurate guidance, but to better support families at a critical and often vulnerable juncture in their lives.
