This House of Lords Library Briefing has been prepared in advance of the second reading in the House of Lords of the Family Relationships (Impact Assessment and Targets) Bill [HL] on 23 February 2018.
Family Relationships (Impact Assessment and Targets) Bill (231 KB , PDF)
The Family Relationships (Impact Assessment and Targets) Bill is a private member’s bill introduced by Lord Farmer (Conservative) in the House of Lords on 29 June 2017. It is scheduled to have its second reading on 23 February 2018.
The Bill would require government departments (and other public bodies designated by statutory instrument) to publish ‘Family Impact Assessments’ (FIAs) setting out an assessment of the impact of a policy proposal on families and family relationships. Secondly, it would require the Secretary of State to publish objectives and targets for promoting “strong and stable families” and for the government to report on its progress towards meeting these objectives.
In October 2014, the Coalition Government published guidance for government departments to consider the impact of policies on families and family relationships (the ‘Family Test’). The Explanatory Notes to the Bill states the principles of FIAs contained within the Bill are based on this guidance. Lord Farmer has expressed concern about the status of the Family Test and that results are not required to be published. In January 2018, Kit Malthouse, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said that the Department for Work and Pensions was “working hard” to embed the Family Test across Government. It was offering advice to other government departments that were instituting it and the Government would continue to “push [it] forward”.
Family Relationships (Impact Assessment and Targets) Bill (231 KB , PDF)
The Still-Birth (Definition) Bill [HL] would amend the legal definition of stillbirth in England and Wales to apply from 20 weeks into a pregnancy, rather than the current 24 weeks. It is scheduled to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 4 July 2025.
![Still-Birth (Definition) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 39 of 2024–25](https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/paolo-nicolello-KY6NHtBWJB8-unsplash-1-568x320.jpg)
In January 2025 the House of Lords Constitution Committee published a report on the responsibility of the government (the executive) to oversee the constitution. It concluded that the UK’s constitutional arrangements would benefit from several improved safeguards, such as the appointment of a senior minister to advise on constitutional matters and for advisory bodies to be put on a statutory footing.
National policy statements (NPSs) inform decision-making for nationally significant infrastructure projects. The current NPS for nuclear power generation (EN-6) has effect for listed nuclear projects capable of being deployed by the end of 2025. Both the current and previous governments have consulted on a new NPS (EN-7) that would apply to nuclear power stations expected to be deployed after 2025. This briefing gives an overview of NPSs, the proposed new NPS for nuclear power generation and the reaction to it, as well as the current government’s policy on nuclear energy.
