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21 J. Soc. Welfare & Fam. L. iii (1999)

handle is hein.journals/jnlosclwl21 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 21(1) 1999: iii-v Editorial Apart from various items of interest in the Queen's Speech, such as the proposed Access to Justice Bill, the Age of Consent and Abuse of Trust Bill, the Welfare Reform Bill, and the Disability Rights Commission Bill, all of which we hope will attract future contributions to the pages of this Journal, the publication by the Home Office of the Green Paper on the Family (Supporting Families: A Consultation Document, 1998, London, HMSO) should not be allowed to pass without comment. As we noted in our last editorial (JSWFL 20 (4)), and generally, there appears to be something of a paradox between the apparent wish of the Home Office to relinquish its responsibility for Family Court welfare work and its sudden interest in providing financial support for Parentline. It is even more paradoxical, therefore, to see this particular Green Paper being published by the Home Office as opposed to the Department of Health, especially when, as the Home Secretary notes in the foreword, this is the first time any government has published a consultation paper on the family! Although the marriage saving agenda that is clearly embodied in the Green Paper is certainly not without precedent, and might reflect long-standing Home Office responsibility for supporting the institution of marriage (cf. The Marriage Matters report published by the Home Office in 1979), its scope is much more extensive, since it is 'primarily concerned with practical steps that can be taken to support families' (p. 5). It introduces, for example, proposals for the National Family and Parenting Institute (who will lead this, we wonder in passing?); a new national parenting helpline to be developed by Parentline; a new enhanced role for health visitors, embracing the whole well-being of parents and children as well as their physical health; and Sure Start, a £450 million initiative to help children in their early years to grow up and maximize their skills in preparation for school. The Green Paper also outlines a number of proposals for improving support to families with serious problems, in which context reference is made to some of the provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Embedded in all of this are some interesting observations about the Family Law Act, 'which will enter into force in 2000' (para. 4.42), suggestions for the introduction of secular baby- naming ceremonies, improving provisions for under-age and teenage mothers and fathers, and proposals relating to domestic violence. Much of this is not without merit, of course, and deserves careful considera- tion. The reader might be forgiven, however, for forming the impression that this is something of a potpourri of proposals which fall a long way short of providing the foundations for a coherent approach to family policy and for questioning whether it even provides what the Home Secretary describes in the foreword as 'a programme of sensible and pragmatic measures which will strengthen the family'. In this context, the references to the provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act strike a somewhat discordant note and it is to be hoped that the fact © 1999 Routledge 0141-8033

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