IT may seem a self-evident truth that the most ideal and effective people to solve family problems and disputes are the members of the family itself.

But the fact that a scheme based on this notion is being 'imported' all the way from New Zealand by social services chiefs in East Lancashire in a bid to end domestic rifts and stop children being taken into care is a telling comment on the fractured state of the modern family.

The idea behind the scheme, developed in New Zealand by former chief social worker Mike Doolan, who came to Blackburn for its launch this week, is that independent co-ordinators arrange family group meetings where problems are discussed and solutions are agreed by the family members involved.

It is a strategy that has been tried and tested with great success around the world after being pioneered in New Zealand and social services officials in Blackburn and Darwen are confident it will work equally here.

It needs every encouragement, for family strife is always tragic and when children are taken into care as a consequence, it is doubly so. But is it not another tragedy for our society when its main unit, the family itself, now needs to be assisted in what was once a natural skill -- that of its members communicating with each other and coming together in times of trouble to work out their difficulties together?