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Thank you very much - it鈥檚 a great pleasure to be here today, especially for the start of Parents鈥� week. I鈥檓 really grateful to the FPI for hosting this meeting today.

This is a really important agenda for the Government, and I hope that you recognise that by the support that鈥檚 been given at the highest levels of Government for this week. This is an issue which the Deputy Prime Minister, the Prime Minister and I take very seriously.

The key point that I want to leave you with, as the Government鈥檚 Minister for Children and Families, is that this Government isn鈥檛 going to shy away from supporting family life.

I do recognise that this is a controversial area - and it鈥檚 controversial both on the left and on the right. There are some people who will say it鈥檚 all about supporting marriage. Then you鈥檝e got people who say it鈥檚 nothing to do with supporting marriage.

Marriage is incredibly important in creating a supportive and happy environment, but it is not the only thing that we should consider when we鈥檙e thinking about supporting families, because we know that it is the quality of the family and parent-child relationships that really matter.

I also think, in reflecting about supporting families and parents at this stage, that there is a tendency too often for families to become the public whipping boy for policy. After the riots, it鈥檚 right that we should think and ask questions about how we raise our children. But too often the debate becomes polarised into good parents and bad parents.

That鈥檚 not helpful for anybody. All parents make mistakes. All parents find it a tough job. Most parents are desperate for more advice, more information and more support.

Bringing up children is something that we all have a stake in, and we knock families at our peril. All of us have a stake in this. That鈥檚 demonstrated by the work that the FPI have done - in getting businesses involved as much as in the support that is offered to individual families.

But I think that there is a very specific role for Government in trying to create the kind of society in which children grow up and develop well and in which family life can flourish.

The evidence is clear. As Graham Allen and Frank Field have found in their reports, children鈥檚 life chances are heavily predicated on their development in the first five years of life. For children鈥檚 health, mothers鈥� health is critical in the early days and weeks.

Two other factors are really important to children鈥檚 life chances: high-quality early years education and what we call the home learning environment. 鈥淭he home learning environment has a greater influence on a child鈥檚 intellectual and social development than parental occupation, education or income.鈥�

That鈥檚 a very stark finding - it means that the way in which parents interact with their children in the very early stages of life can overcome many of the other factors associated with disadvantage.

We know that this is very important. Supporting parents to do a good job is critical if the Government is serious about accessing the potential that all children have.

That鈥檚 the reason that we have extended the free early years entitlement from 12.5 hours to 15 hours for all 3 and 4 year olds. It鈥檚 also the reason that we鈥檙e extending it to all disadvantaged two-year olds. There鈥檚 also significant, on-going work to improve the quality of the early years offer.

But we need to do more if we want to support parents.

Most new parents would expect to attend an antenatal class. They may decide to pay for that, or they may be able to have it for free.

But parenting support once your child arrives has come to be seen as remedial or punitive. Something that is forced on you if something goes badly wrong or if your child is uncontrollable.

I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 a healthy way forward. I want to see more access and more choice for parents to parenting advice and support. That鈥檚 why I announced last month that the Government will shortly begin trialling an offer of parenting classes for mothers and fathers of children child aged 0 - 5 in three or four areas.

The trial will give parents access to parenting classes during those first five years of their child鈥檚 life, so that they can have help with parenting until their child starts school. I hope that will begin to break that cycle that says that parenting classes are only something that happens when things go wrong, and that people will then feel confident, at a later stage, to access information and support.

Today I am delighted to announce that those trials will run in three areas: Middlesbrough, High Peak and the London Borough of Camden. Officials from my Department have already been in touch with partners in those areas. They鈥檝e been chosen specifically to make sure that we鈥檙e able to cover a rural area, an urban area, and areas with a very mixed population that have wealth and disadvantage living side by side. If this offer is going to work then it needs to be available to all parents.

The classes won鈥檛 be compulsory. This isn鈥檛 the nanny state. But it is a response to the evidence that says that the home environment is the biggest single determinant of your child鈥檚 future success. I don鈥檛 think we can afford to ignore that evidence. It would be to squander the nation鈥檚 most precious resource - our children鈥檚 potential.

But parenting classes are just one element in the spectrum of family support that this Government is providing.

Sure Start Children鈥檚 Centres continue to play a vital part in their local community, alongside schools and NHS services.

We believe that these centres should have a clear core purpose, focused on improving outcomes for young children and their families, with a particular focus on the most disadvantaged families - reducing inequalities in child development and school readiness; parenting aspirations, self esteem and parenting skills; and child and family health and life chances.

We want areas who are trialling parenting classes to think about the role their local network of children鈥檚 centres can play - in terms of: children鈥檚 centres supporting families into parenting classes, through parenting classes, and after a parenting class has finished.

And we know how important the support of health visitors can be, especially during those early years. This is why the Government is acting to strengthen the Healthy Child Programme through its commitment to an extra 4,200 health visitors by 2015.

We鈥檙e also investing in relationship support - 拢30 million over the next four years - because we know that鈥檚 critical in supporting parents.

Last week, we announced an increase in childcare support for families on low incomes.

In addition, the Government has proposed to extend parental leave to both parents, to give families more flexibility and to encourage both parents to play their part. I believe passionately that this is a vital part of our commitment to families.

BIS have recently concluded their consultation called the 鈥楳odern Work Place鈥� consultation, which addressed this issue. I believe that this is absolutely critical to supporting family life, and I鈥檓 very excited about this consultation.

In the coming weeks, I鈥檒l be announcing more support to help parents navigate through the wealth of information and advice available to mothers, fathers and carers, particularly on the internet.

If you try Googling 鈥減arenting鈥� you鈥檒l receive over 200 million suggestions - not all of which will be relevant. We need to start helping parents navigate the enormous amount of parenting information and support available.

That is why my Department and the Department of Health are jointly exploring ways of making digital information for parents of children between pregnancy and the age of five more easily accessible. The aim is that parents find specific information and advice when they need it and are signposted to high quality health and parenting content. I expect to be able to say more about this new service very shortly.

Parenting isn鈥檛 just about supporting families in the early years. We know that things don鈥檛 always get easier as children get older.

That鈥檚 why the commitment that the Prime Minister made very recently to a family 鈥榯est鈥� is so critical.

We want to do everything we can to ensure that policies help families flourish by supporting the financial well-being and work-life balance of families and promoting quality public services for them to use.

I鈥檓 concerned that this test shouldn鈥檛 just pick up the broad sweep of issues or only cater for middle class families. If this test is going to work, it has to cater for families of all backgrounds. Families who may be more vulnerable, for example, because they have a child who has a disability, or because they fit into one of the categories which are less popular with the media. How are we supporting families who are involved in the criminal justice system, or who may be affected by benefit reform? These are the critical tests of how a family 鈥榯est鈥� should work.

But a family 鈥渢est鈥� operated wholly in Whitehall is unlikely to be the most effective way of achieving our aims. We need to know what real families think, and not just what civil servants think real families think.

So that鈥檚 why I鈥檝e been so grateful for the help of the FPI in developing our thinking so far.

And we want to continue working with partners like you in developing the family 鈥渢est.鈥�

If you want to make an input to the development of the family 鈥渢est鈥�, if there are obvious policy areas that you know need highlighting, or things that you think should be addressed by this family 鈥榯est鈥� I鈥檇 encourage you to get in contact with the Families鈥� Strategic Partner, who offer advice to the Government on families鈥� issues, via our hosts today the Family and Parenting Institute.

I just want to finish by saying that I鈥檓 incredibly grateful for the support, advice and challenge that everyone in the sector and beyond provides Government on its policy decisions. We are better for it!

I know that families are feeling under pressure at the moment with the current fiscal situation. I know it鈥檚 tight and I know it鈥檚 difficult. But this Government is determined to do as much as it can to support families. I鈥檓 grateful for your help in making that happen.