Advice and support to top family policy

The next phase of family policy is likely to focus on advice and
support for parents, children’s minister Margaret Hodge told a
conference this week.

Parents wanted autonomy but also wanted advice from the state and
the voluntary sector to help them be better parents, Hodge told a
conference on working with fathers, sponsored by Community
Care.

“The support we can give to parents is perhaps one of the most
underdeveloped areas of public policy and needs to be a key theme
as we think forward to the next phase of public policy in relation
to the family.”

She added that society had often ignored the role of fathers and
pledged to put them at the heart of plans to improve the lives of
children.