§ 7. Mr. SoleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which minister is responsible for the co-ordination of family policy within his Department. [27606]
§ Mr. BurtAlthough overall policy co-ordination is, of course, the responsibility of the Secretary of State, I have responsibility for responding on general family issues in the Department.
§ Mr. SoleyIs the Minister aware that almost everyone outside the House who is concerned about family policy and the enormous impact that it could have on the welfare of our society, if we got it right, take the view that the 8 Government do not have a real family policy and that there is virtually no effective co-ordination between Departments? If he believes that that is not correct, will he put out a statement saying who is responsible for what and what is the structure of co-ordination?
§ Mr. BurtI do not accept the hon. Gentleman's point. Just about every Government Department handles policies that are of direct relevance to families, and individual Departments work closely together on matters that are common to them. A number of regular meetings to consider issues that impact on the family are held through, for example, the ministerial committee on home affairs and the ministerial sub-committee on women's issues. The whole of Whitehall is concerned about co-ordination of those policies. Such co-ordination does take place. The hon. Gentleman's plea for greater co-ordination is not falling on deaf ears. The work of each Department is complex and involves families in many different ways. The work is going on, even though the hon. Gentleman is not prepared to accept it.
§ Mr. Harry GreenwayDoes my hon. Friend agree with Cardinal Hume that the nuclear family is the bedrock of our society? Although a family who are unfortunate enough not to have both parents must be given help, basically we are aiming, as a party and as a Government, to support the family, and that is the right aim to have.
§ Mr. BurtI agree with my hon. Friend. The family is an integral part of the United Kingdom. We spend a lot of time concentrating on the income that goes into families, but we have spent rather too little time considering the structure of families and the damage that has been done over the past 20 or 30 years, with the changing structure of families and the pressure that is put on the relationships that keep families together. Anything that can focus both the mind of the House and the mind of the public at large on the importance of those relationships and the importance of families is a good thing. I wish that the ideal of a particular family type—that is, marriage—as the best basis for raising children would also be in the mind of the Church of England as it considers its conclusions to its report.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyThen perhaps the Minister would like to consider the position of families, many of them old-age pensioner couples, who find themselves required to find extra money for their own parents because of the Government's policy of moving an increasing number of geriatric patients out of the health service and dumping them in the community without proper support. What kind of family policy is that, pray?
§ Mr. BurtIf I remember rightly, the change to community care was welcomed by the vast majority of local authorities, which competed keenly with Government to get the responsibility to look after elderly people. Substantial Government money has been put in to ensure that local authorities live up to those obligations; in many cases, they do.