The snappily titled and easy to read Children Schools and Families Act 2010 has landed on our virtual desks. Not yet in force owing to the impending election (‘What election?’ I hear you say) the Bill made it through ‘wash-up’ and received Royal Assent only moments before Parliament was dissolved, to gasps of relief all round. Or groans.

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Its a b*tch of a document (that’s local legal jargon) and I’m still digesting it piece by piece in between hearings and nappy changes – but I will be cooking up a summary of it for you. My preliminary observation is that it is convoluted, complicated and will probably benefit only the legal profession who will be instructed to deal with all the applications prompted as we all try to work out what it all means. And in a special election double whammy it contains a whole raft of future changes which will be brought in 18 months down the line – just at the moment that everyone has worked out what the law is. I can tell you that fat cats like me are rubbing our greasy little paws with glee. Or I would be if I didn’t have such a god awful headache from trying to unpick the unsightly mess that is the CSFA 2010.

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To experience the pain yourself first hand you may wish to visit the Office of Public Sector Information where you can view the Act alongside the explanatory notes, and also a helpful article in Family Law Week here (written when the Act was still a twinkle in the Queen’s eye (at Bill stage) but still helpful).