The coalition has published details of its ‘Family Test’ – a compulsory set of questions to be considered by all civil servants when drafting any changes in law and policy. The questions aim to assess the impact that new policies may have on family stability, parenting duties, and the risk of breakdown or separation.

The questions have been developed in association with Relationship Alliance and relationship charity Relate, and will not take preference of the traditional family model over another. The government claims the test is evidence that family is ‘at the heart of government policy’; they are part of the conservatives’ focus on ‘hard-working families’ and the belief that stable family units are at the heart of a thriving society.

It is thought that the test will encourage civil servants to consider more broadly the impact of a policy before it is implemented. Elizabeth Gallagher, head of the Family department at Macks Solicitors states that, “Whilst anything that considers the impact of government policy on families should be welcomed, it is difficult to envisage how this will work in practice.   

“Moreover, the fact that the coalition wiped away almost entirely, the provision of legal aid for family issues should not be forgotten”.

Labour have also criticised the ‘Family Test’, highlighting the failure of Cameron’s government to meet its promise to be the ‘most family-friendly ever’. They point to rising childcare costs and the closure of 600 Sure Start centres as evidence of this, as well as research by the Independent Institute for Fiscal Studies that revealed that families will be £974 a year worse off because of changes to the tax and benefits system.