Report to the People
17th April 2006
Marriage
Care
If you’re reading this
unaided, then congratulations - you’ve nearly made it to the end of one of the
year’s worst weekends for DIY accidents without drilling through a gas pipe or
falling off a ladder.
Even if you manage to escape
physically unscathed, though, the mental scars of an Easter weekend run deep.
Going ten rounds with a flat-pack chest of drawers, while the rain drums
relentlessly against the windows and your better half offers helpful advice such
as, “Is it meant to look like that?” would raise tensions in even the most
idyllic relationship.
But, unlike a DIY project,
you can’t just throw your marriage half-built into the garden hut when it
becomes difficult. You can, though,
call in a professional to help get it right.
Given the importance of
marriage, the professional assistance available to couples must be effective in
helping them overcome their problems. And
how we ensure that this is the case is currently being investigated by
Holyrood’s Justice 1 Committee. My
colleague, Mary Mulligan MSP, is examining the family support services on offer,
including mediation and counselling centres, together with how they can be
improved.
The best way to find out what
works is talking to the people with firsthand experience.
So, if you provide relationship services or have used them and found
they’ve helped, or hindered, the Committee wants to hear from you.
Submissions should be in by 5th
May and details of how
to contribute are available from www.scottish.parliament.uk or my office
(791820).
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