Barnet’s Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) Programme
Barnet’s Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) Programme
The Reducing Parental Conflict Programme is aimed at supporting families, where there are issues of frequent and poorly resolved conflict between parents, which are negatively impacting children. There is much research to evidence how poorly resolved parental conflict can negatively impact on children’s emotional and social development, as well as their educational attainment and life chances. More can be found out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/reducing-parental-conflict-programme-and-resources
Since 2022*, councils have received Central Government (DWP) grant-funding to help them upskill their workforce, raise awareness among partners and embed practice to reduce P/Conflict. (*With some pilot funding since 2017). A further year’s funding has just been announced for 2025/26.In Barnet, we have trained our Early Help Practitioners to use a set of structured interventions for parents still together and for parents living apart, experiencing low-level parental conflict. These 6 week interventions (developed by Amity Relationships) form a key part of our Child and Family Early Help Hub’s menu of interventions.
We also run specialist group supervision sessions- called ‘Practice Conversations’ facilitated by Tavistock Relationships, for social workers, Integrated Clinicians and Early Help practitioners, using a ‘Mentalisation’ approach, for those working with families, where there are higher levels of parental conflict.
In addition, we’ve offered multi-agency training for practitioners to understand the difference between domestic abuse and parental conflict (such as ‘Working in the Grey Space’), We are intending to repeat some of this training in 2025/2026 for specific partners such as Health and Police colleagues.
For those who missed the brief RPC awareness raising session delivered to partner agencies by Amityin 2023 - there is now an abridged pre-recorded version here. There is also a recording of a BSCP Lunchtime briefing about Parental Conflict delivered in March 2025– see link.
From 2025/26, we will be obtaining new practice materials and access to e-learning, to upskill our Early Help practitioners to work directly with children, affected by parental conflict.
Support aimed at parents
We have a digital leaflet aimed at parents, co-produced with our Parent Champions. This leaflet signposts parents to our Reducing Parental Conflict webpage, which provides a range of self-help tools, animations, and materials. It also lets them know that if they need more than self-help, to contact the Early Help Hubs, who can offer 1-1 Reducing Parental Conflict interventions.
Reducing parental conflict | Barnet Council - leaflet available here.
- Strengthening Families Strengthening Communities Free 6-week on-line RPC Parenting Group Programme (provided by the Race Equality Foundation). Includes groups for parents living together and parents apart, with evening and weekend sessions available. We have received very positive feedback from families so far, who have accessed these programmes. See website below for more information and how parents can enrol. (The referral link is also included on our Barnet RPC webpage)
Stronger Relationships courses – Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (strengthening-families.net)
- In 2023, the Race Equalities Foundation offered additional specialist RPC training, to our already trained ‘Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities’facilitators, within the C&F Early Help Hubs. This means that our practitioners can include these materials as part of our generic SFSC parenting programmes..
- From 2025, we will be working with Barnet’s trained parent-volunteers (known as Parent Champions) to offer coffee sessions to raise awareness of Parental Conflict. This will then help them when offering peer-to-peer support to other parents.
For further general info about the Barnet’s Reducing Parental Conflict Programme please contact:
Contact: Michaela Carlowe, Early Help Service Manager, E/C, C&F Early Help Hub, Family Services
020 8359 7640 or 07958 042326
michaela.carlowe@barnet.gov.uk
or Abida Begum, Team Manager, Supporting Families Team, Family Services
020 8359 6155
Abida.begum@barnet.gov.uk