A leading Jewish peer has suggested that batei din are prepared to reform their procedures for arranging a get.

Lord Jon Mendelsohn is one of the peers who successfully pressed for the official recognition of get refusal as a form of abuse - which was set out in statutory guidance to the Domestic Abuse Act published by the government a few days ago.

Welcoming the publication, he said the "guidance and the overall government’s approach are very welcome and have broad cross-party support. These are important advances and ensure that progress is made on recognising the rights and concerns of women and that all Jewish women can have the full protection of UK law. "

While there was still much work to be done, "this demonstrates that the direction of travel is clear", he said.

He added, "We are encouraged at the reports that the batei din have committed in discussions with government to reform their procedures and provide more transparency, so it is more accessible, even-handed and supports women.

"Now the statutory guidance has been published, we look forward to announcements of these changes in the coming weeks."

Lord Mendelsohn was a co-founder of the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Get Refusal, which recently announced the launch of an enquiry into get procedures in the UK.

A new book by the barrister Daniel Greenberg, Getting A Get, which was launched at the APPG last week, has also called for changes at the religious courts, arguing that they should not intervene in custody and financial arrangements for divorcing couples but leave it to the secular courts.

READ MORE: New guidance officially recognises get refusal as domestic abuse