Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made with the food, drink and advertising industries on discouraging the promotion of high caffeine and sugar energy drinks at sporting events.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation published in 2015 committed government to continue to discuss with sports the scope for voluntary agreements on high fat sugar and salt (HFSS) food sponsorship. Working with Department of Health, Public Health England, the Sport and Recreation Alliance and sports organisations we developed a set of principles for sports bodies to consider when entering into relationships that relate to HFSS products. These principles were set out in Sport England's wider guidance to sports bodies on commercial sponsorship in May this year. This included ensuring monies received are reinvested into developing and promoting sport and providing information to consumers on the content of food and drink available at sporting events.
In addition, Public Health England (PHE) are leading a programme to reduce the levels of sugar in key foods that contribute most to children’s sugar intakes by 20% by 2020.
Asked by: Baroness Tyler of Enfield (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to deliver the outcomes of the Family Stability Review including doubling the funding for relationship counselling in 2015–16, as announced by the Prime Minister in his speech to the Relationships Alliance on 18 August 2014.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Prime Minister announced increased support for families and guaranteed that spend for relationship support would be at least £7.5m for 2015/16 and I can confirm this will be the case.
We are in the process of finalising the details of contracting for relationship support services for 2015/16. As well as the continuation of a wide range of existing support services, we will include new provision for providing training and guidance for Health Visitors to recognise and respond to the signs of relationship distress, and the launching of a new pilot to test the inclusion of relationship education in peri-natal classes in 8 areas of the country.
In conjunction we will also be offering a 6 month extension to all of the 16 Help and Support for Separated Families Innovation Fund pilots, which focus on helping parents going through separation to resolve conflict and work together in the interests of their children.
This support comes alongside the government’s wider commitment to families through the introduction of the Family Test and the Troubled Families programme which aims to turn around the lives of 120,000 of the most troubled families in England by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure the continued funding of the Grandparents' Association.
Answered by Steve Webb
This government is committed to building on the excellent work already in place to strengthen family relationships and as the Prime Minister announced at the Relationships Alliance summit in August 2014, we will be investing the same amount of funding in 2015/2016 as we have done in 2014/2015.
Grandparents Association are subcontracted by Relate who are one of the lead suppliers delivering relationship support services. DWP will be funding this Relate contract in 2015/16 at the same level as they have received in 2014/15. It is Relate’s responsibility to decide how they manage this contract and which partners / sub-contractors they involve in supporting delivery of these services.
However, we would encourage existing providers to make use of the valuable skills and expertise that are offered by the third sector, such as Grandparents Association.