Labour and Tories make manifesto pledges for families

The Conservative manifesto, Invitation to Join the Government of Britain, revealed plans to allow public sector workers to run their own Sure Start centres, focusing on the neediest families and with funding based on outcomes, as well as employing 4,200 more Sure Start health visitors and bringing all funding for early intervention and parenting support into one budget overseen by an Early Years Support Team.

The Tories also propose to extend the right to request flexible working to parents with a child under 18 years of age, and to introduce tax breaks for married couples and those in civil partnerships (News, 27 January).

Labour's manifesto, A Future Fair for All, pledges to expand the number of free childcare places for two-year-olds, to give parents more flexibility over how they use the free entitlement by giving them the option to carry over unused hours from one year to another, and to give parents more choice over when their child starts school.

Labour said it would introduce a Toddler Tax Credit of £4 a week for all parents of young children from 2012 (News, 24 March) and extend paternity leave from two to four weeks.

Rob Williams, chief executive of the Fatherhood Institute, said, 'Labour's plans to extend paternity leave is a welcome step. But not all will be able to take this leave. It is paid at a low rate, which means that for many families it will not make financial sense for the father to take time off. It needs to be paid at 90 per cent of the father's salary, just as the first six weeks are for mothers.'