Family Test

Baroness Sherlock Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Altmann]

My Lords, I assure the House that the family test is indeed incorporated into every new domestic policy consideration by this Government.

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

My Lords, I spoke recently to a woman called Ruth, who had adopted three siblings aged under four. The children were placed with her only because she agreed to stay home in their early years, because they were very damaged. However, her husband was a vicar, and she could only afford to give up work and feed the children because of tax credits. She got in touch to say that if the Government push through the plan tomorrow to limit all benefits and tax credits to the first two children in any family, she would not be able to adopt those children in future, and they would stay in care at a cost of £40,000 per child per year. I asked the Minister how that policy passed the family test. He would not tell me. Will she?

[Baroness Altmann]

My Lords, as I said, the family test is not a tick-box exercise. Policy is always about trade-offs, but the family test ensures that family impacts are explicitly considered when making those trade-offs.