Labour conference: Families green paper to support relationships

Speaking at a fringe meeting at the Labour party conference, Balls said he wants more services to target fathers and whole families, as opposed to mothers and children alone.

He said: "Relationships are now firmly on the agenda. I think our families green paper is an opportunity to challenge ourselves across public services, to think about the strength of families' realtionships and how that impacts on the wellbeing of our children."

Duncan Fisher, who manages the Kids in the Middle campaign, said engaging fathers in maternity services is key.

He said: "If we could engage with fathers when they go with the mother for a scan and then link that up with children's centres then we'd save a lot of money in the long term. It's much cheaper than chasing fathers through the community once they've already become distanced from services".

Deidre Saunders, agony aunt for The Sun newspaper and member of the social work taskforce, had been scheduled to speak at the meeting but was told not to attend by her bosses. The Sun announced earlier in the day that the paper is backing the Conservatives to win the next election.

However, Balls paid tribute to Saunders' work supporting family relationships. "I think she's been a brilliant advocate for families and working on the social work task force. She's shown brilliant leadership so I really hope she will carry on working with us," he said.