UK Parliament / Open data

Welfare Reform Bill

Proceeding contribution from Earl of Listowel (Crossbench) in the House of Lords on Thursday, 20 October 2011. It occurred during Debate on bills and Committee proceeding on Welfare Reform Bill.
I am grateful for the Minister’s response. I want to clarify a point about parents and children and fostering the relationship between them. I have no experience in local government, but is it easy and clear enough for local government officials to see that not supporting contact between a daughter and father will be so detrimental to the local environment that that is something that they should prioritise, or should it be more apparent to us in national government to recognise that in 20 years’ time we will reap great benefits from having a daughter grow up with a good relationship with her father? That is a specific question. Behind that, given what the Prime Minister, David Cameron, was quoted as saying, given the recent push from the honourable Sarah Teather, the Minister of State, and given the great concern that this Government particularly have—indeed, that all Governments have had—to support families, is this not perhaps an area where an exemption needs to be given more thought? It is important to be efficient, but some risks are so great that a bit of inefficiency is worth the cost in order to save us from great harm. I note what the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, said about pregnant women. I know I am adding another level to this, but it is related to the question of relationships between parents and children. Can the Minister give us a bit of comfort on this point?
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
731 c135GC 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords Grand Committee
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