Research and analysis

Summary: Reducing Parental Conflict programme 2018 to 2022 final evaluation report

Updated 19 September 2023

Authors: Lorna Adams, Helen Greevy, Helen Rossiter, Henry Allingham and Amy Hillel (IFF Research Ltd)

This is the final report from the commissioned evaluation of the 2018 to 2022 Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) programme. This report primarily focuses on quantitative surveys with parents that ran between summer 2020 and summer 2022, as well as final qualitative research conducted in 2022. References to previously reported key findings are included to provide a fuller picture.

Background

In 2018, the government established the RPC programme to address harmful inter-parental conflict, below the threshold of domestic abuse, so that every child has the best possible start in life.

Research context

Findings from this evaluation contribute to the wider evidence base on what works for families to reduce parental conflict and are designed to support local authorities and their partners to further embed the parental conflict agenda into local area family services. The evaluation consisted of 3 strands which correspond to 3 main programme elements:

1. Intervention delivery – to assess how the provision of 7 RPC interventions in 31 local authorities, was implemented and delivered and their effects on interparental conflict and child mental health.

2. Training – to study whether and how the training of practitioners and relationship support professionals influenced practice on the ground.

3. Local integration – to examine to what extent local authorities across England integrated elements of parental conflict support into mainstream services for children and families, how this happened and with what success.

Headline findings

Intervention delivery

• a total of 2,694 parents completed an intervention as part of the RPC programme.
• parents reported positive experiences from 4 elements of the interventions: tailoring of content so its relevant to individual situations; good practitioner approach and demeanour; use of practical tools and activities; and provision of workbooks to reflect on the sessions
• around half of parents thought their relationship had improved 6 months after completion of the intervention, which was sustained 12 months after completion. This was higher for intact parents
• two-thirds of completing parents felt the sessions had a positive impact on their children at 6 months after completion and increased to almost three-quarters 12 months after completion
• those who took part in the interventions with their (ex-)partner were more likely to report improvements
• the reasons given for parents not starting an intervention were usually related to issues with their (ex-)partner. For those who started but did not complete an intervention, some gave reasons relating to their (ex-)partner, but the most common reason was that the sessions were no longer helping

Practitioner training

• almost 16,500 practitioners took part in the RPC training between April 2019 and March 2021, evenly split between those attending face-to-face and via a Virtual Learning Classroom. Both methods of delivery were well-received
• practitioners reported that training had significantly improved their knowledge, understanding and ability to address parental conflict and most had applied it to their day-to-day role
• there was generally a preference for face-to-face training, particularly for the Train the Trainer module

Local integration

• local authorities that received the Workforce Development Grant (WDG) did so to re-launch activity where progress had stalled or to drive the agenda forward as they had already made significant progress
• most local authorities reported that the flexibility of the WDG allowed them to deliver training practitioners and develop digital support for parents, which they otherwise would not have done or done on a much smaller scale

Fieldwork

This final report^{[footnote 1]} provides findings from various quantitative surveys that ran between summer 2020 and 2022, conducted with over 1,000 parents who completed or failed to complete/start an intervention. The report also includes insight from 30 qualitative interviews with parents who completed interventions in the final year of the programme and qualitative case studies of 10 local authorities who received the WDG and one non-bidding local authority.

Findings explained

Intervention delivery

In the first year of intervention delivery, lower than expected referral levels were attributed to a lack of awareness of understanding of interventions and confusion around eligibility. Later, increasing referral rates was attributed in part to the shift to online delivery.

Participation in the interventions was voluntary, and the vast majority (89%) of parents who completed an intervention understood that they had a choice about taking part. Where parents felt it was mandatory, they reported feeling pressured by social services or schools to take part.

Parents who did not start or complete an intervention generally had a good understanding of the reason why they had been referred. The main reasons given for not starting an intervention were issues relating to their (ex) partner. For those who started but did not complete the interventions, the main reason was that the sessions were no longer helping (27%).

Parents were generally positive about the interventions. Survey findings with parents who completed an intervention showed that almost all (95%) felt the facilitator did a good job, most (86%) agreed that the discussions were useful, and a similar proportion (81%) felt they learnt something from the sessions.

Qualitative interviews showed a variety in the level of impact on parents. Those who reported a high level of impact found they were able to communicate better with the other parent and appreciate their perspective more. Some parents felt a more modest impact, with a positive change but still experiencing old patterns of behaviour. Despite many parents reporting that they had learned something, it had resulted in a perceived limited impact on their relationship, often due to no behaviour change from their (ex-)partner

Around two-thirds (67%) of parents who completed an intervention perceived a positive impact on their children 6 months after completion. This increased to 73% 12 months after completing an intervention, this upward shift over time was solely driven by separated parents.

Training findings

Nearly all local authorities made use of the Practitioner Training grant which ensured a wide reach for the RPC training. Over the course of the RPC programme, almost 16,500 practitioners took part in the training, with modules 2 (recognising parental conflict) and 3 (working with parents in conflict) having the highest attendance.

The content of the training was praised in both the face-to-face and VLC setting, the vast majority (95%) of practitioners felt that the material was relevant to their work with three-quarters of practitioners feeling that they could apply what they learned to their job role. At least three-quarters of practitioners who took part in each module felt that the level of detail was about right.

Having said this, the Train the Trainer module often scored lower than modules 1-4, with practitioners who attended this less likely to state that it was the right level of detail. There was a desire for a greater focus on the practical delivery of the training session. Despite only a small proportion having delivered any modules since attending the training, most did have plans to do so in the future.

Overall, training was well-received, relevant to practitioner job roles and equipped practitioners to use what they had learned whether attended face-to-face or via VLC. However, for Train the Trainer there was increased intended delivery of the training to others and higher perceived usefulness when attended face-to-face.

Local integration findings

In this final report, the local integration chapter focuses on the Workforce Development Grant (WDG), offered in 2021 to 2022 to enable local authorities to build Reducing Parental Conflict capability amongst practitioners. There were 2 key motivations for local authorities in applying for the WDG:

• a desire to continue the progress made in preceding years
• or a lack of progress on the RPC agenda

When compared to other grants, the WDG was praised for its flexibility, allowing local authorities to focus on their own specific needs which previous grants had not allowed for.

The WDG was predominantly spent on further training, though some also spent some on supporting parents with digital self-help tools or resources. Despite local authorities feeling that it was too early to be discussing the impact of this work, they did feel that their practitioners were already using their skills on a daily basis.

Although local authorities were positive about the WDG and its flexibility, there were some frustrations with the complexity of the application process and the short amount of time allocated to use the funding.

Concluding remarks

Taking the findings of the entirety of the 2018 to 2022 RPC programme evaluation into consideration, it is clear that:

• the Reducing Parental Conflict Programme 2018 to 2022 has tackled the challenge of introducing an entirely new policy area
• provision of grants has helped to develop strategic plans for LAs and funded training which educated staff on raising parental conflict with parents. Training was key to driving the cultural change required to embed RPC
• the programme was less successful in ensuring a legacy of cascaded training as few of those attending Train the Trainer sessions delivered any training sessions
• sustaining multi-agency input into reducing parental conflict has also proven difficult, though some LAs have made progress, such as recording and measuring levels of parental conflict as part of standard practices
• where interventions were funded, this support reached parents and led to positive impacts on them and their children. Quantitative analysis demonstrates that at least 6 of the 7 interventions reduced interparental conflict and improved the mental health of children in participating families
• challenges such as staff changes and the Coronavirus pandemic have made it difficult to maintain momentum for the programme. In 2022, the majority of local authorities rated themselves as immature in relation to RPC capability. LAs welcomed continued funding

1. The first report, Reducing Parental Conflict programme evaluation: report on early implementation which provides further details on the evaluation strategy. The second report, Reducing Parental Conflict programme evaluation: second report on implementation which provides detail on research conducted between 2019 and January 2021. The third report, Reducing Parental Conflict programme evaluation: third report on implementation which provides detail on research conducted mostly between January and December 2021. ↩