Five questions to form basis of family test for new policies

The “family test”, which was first announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in August, will measure the potential impact of new policies on families and family relationships. Policies that fail the test will be scrapped.

New guidelines show that the test will be made up of five questions, which will assess how policies would impact on families in a range of situations, including those getting married or experiencing redundancy.

The questions will be:

The government has said the aim of the test is to put families at the heart of policymaking and government departments will be required to develop an evidence base demonstrating how policies support family life.

However, the guidelines show that it will not apply to all new policies, stating that it would not be “sensible or proportionate” to use it against policies that are likely to have a “small and indirect, or temporary” impact on family life.

Anand Shukla, chief executive of the Family and Childcare Trust, has welcomed the new test but said there is still work to be done to improve outcomes for families.

He said: “This test is a very good start, and it is encouraging to see the government recognising the importance of considering the needs of families during policy development.

“Balancing work and family life in a way that suits their families is still an unattainable dream for too many parents, and childcare costs remain a major barrier to work.

“We would like to see the family test widely used and developed over time so that councils can use it as a local test in the future.”