Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to implement the family test; and if he will make a statement.

The Department of Health has liaised with the Department for Work and Pensions as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it and encourage routine use of the Test. This has included training officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014 through the publication of guidance for officials - Family Test Guidance.

The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

The Department of Health is working to raise awareness of the Family Test amongst its policy staff, so that the impact of policy on the family is considered as a matter of course. We have highlighted the Family Test through the Policy Kit, an online resource for Department of Health policy officials. The Family Test is also highlighted in policy induction training, which is available to staff who are new to policy roles in Department of Health.