§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Government are taking to promote stable families. [186975]
§ Margaret HodgeWe believe that all children deserve the chance to grow up in a stable loving family, and we 1813W are increasing the support available to families who want it. We know that poverty places great stress on families and can be a major contributing factor to family breakdown. There are around 500,000 fewer children living in relative poverty than there were in 1997, and there have been significant increases in child benefit, and more generous support through new tax credits. We have also introduced the biggest ever package of legal changes to help working parents balance work and family, including the right to request flexible working—for fathers, as well as mothers and over one million people are now taking this up.
The Every Child Matters Green Paper put supporting parents and carers at the heart of our approach to ensure that every child reaches their full potential in life. Through the development of Sure Start, Children's centres and Extended Schools we are now bringing together support for all children and families in a more integrated way. We are expanding the Children's centre programme to create 2500 centres by 2008.
Every Child Matters also highlighted the role of relationship counselling and family mediation services. Current arrangements are being amalgamated to form a new Strengthening Families Grant programme to fund voluntary and community sector organisations providing relationship support. A family focused, single grant programme will help to promote stable families. However, the Government recognises that some relationships will inevitably break down and the recently published Parental Separation: "Children's Needs and Parents' Responsibilities" Green Paper details a range of measures to provide more effective support to families in relation to contact and residence after divorce and separation.
Although Governments cannot create stable families, we believe that these—and other—measures are playing a valuable role in supporting families.