Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Elder (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 10 January 2006.

Family Fund

Question: My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for that response. Does she agree with me that the trustees of the Family Fund have done a remarkable job in fulfilling their remit, particularly in England where they have had to deal with the problem of no inflation adjustment in their funds since 2003–04? That is quite unlike the situation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland where adjustment has been made. Does my noble friend agree with me that the best thing the Government could do would be, first, to deal with that anomaly and, secondly, to extend the remit to include families with children over 16?

Answer: My Lords, I very much agree with my noble friend that the Family Fund is doing a great job as the evidence of the recent triennial review of the fund indicated. On funding in England, my noble friend will know that the funding for the Family Fund is determined through the Comprehensive Spending Review. In the 2002 spending review the Government assessed the available evidence and agreed £22.8 million per annum for the Family Fund for 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06. Of course, future funding will be determined when we look at the Comprehensive Spending Review in 2007. We will be working very much with the Family Fund to work up a business case so that we can look at an extension of its remit.

Secondary information