Children's secretary Ed Balls announced plans to abolish the legalrequirement for grandparents to apply for court permission to gainaccess to their grandchildren when contact is denied.
Mr Balls said that grandparents were the unsung heroes when it comes toinformal care arrangements and revealed the launch of a new websitecalled BeGrand, offering advice on how grandparents can get moreinvolved with their grandchildren's lives.
Other initiatives to help support families include an online eligibilitychecker of the types of financial assistance for childcare parents maybe entitled to. Children's centres are to be urged to be more accessibleand welcoming. Centres will be encouraged to offer a 'walking busservice', and where they are co-located with schools, to take a morepro-active role in helping them manage beforeand after-school clubs forthe pupils.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day NurseriesAssociation, said, 'We were particularly interested to read thatgovernment intends to launch an online eligibility checker which willoffer advice about the financial support for childcare. A key barrierfor many families is the complexity of funding on offer, and we believethat it is important to look at how this can be further simplified toimprove take-up and confidence - for example, through a system enablingdirect payments to childcare providers.'
Fathers are also to receive more support with a package of new measures,including a Dads' Guide, distributed through Bounty packs for newparents, and guidance from the Royal College of Midwives on how midwivescan better engage with fathers.
Further measures set out in the Green Paper include offering familieswith children under five, or expecting a child, a clear minimum ofservices across health, early learning and care, and employment.Services will be given materials and training by the Family andParenting Institute which they can use to make their provision morefamily-friendly. Parents of disabled children will be offered more helpthrough specialist relationship counselling services.
Flexible working for parents will be improved, with the possibility ofchanging the notice period for fathers for their two-week paternityleave. Currently fathers have to give at least 15 weeks' notice to takeup this entitlement.
The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have also set out theirplans to make Britain more family-friendly (see page 5).
'It is vital that Government focuses on the details that help familiesevery day. Ensuring families have access to the full choice of highquality registered childcare available should remain a priority.' -Catherine Farrell, joint chief executive, National ChildmindingAssociation
'We are pleased Government is recognising the role of grandparents. Wehave yet to see compelling evidence that tax breaks for marriage wouldactively encourage more stable relationships. The state could end uppenalising people when they need help and support the most. We arelooking to all parties to see how they will invest in parental leave andflexible working.' - Katherine Rake, chief executive, Family andParenting Institute
'There are big issues about the future of Sure Start, the Child TrustFund and tax credits, on which parties have different policies. Thesemust not be drowned out by politicians trading blows on marriage.' -Anne Longfield, chief executive, 4Children
'The most important step would be more paternity leave - the best way toensure that more fathers get stuck into caring for their children earlyon.' - Rob Williams, chief executive, Fatherhood Institute
