Children will benefit from a recognition of marriage within the tax system and there needs to be a ‘cultural change’ in the way that children are viewed, said the Lord Bishop of Chester today.

In a debate he secured in the House of Lords, the Rt Revd Dr Peter Forster, the Bishop of Chester, emphasised the importance of marriage for children’s wellbeing and the desire of children to have relationships which ‘surround and nurture them’. He also paid tribute to the challenging task that single parents undertake.

‘Marriage has to be seen as part of a broader context of relationships in the extended family, or too much stress and pressure will be placed on individual marriages. But we can look at it from the other side too: good marriages are not just a benefit for the couple themselves, and their children, but serve to strengthen the wider society of which they are a part. A strong respect for marriage will actually support single parents, and others who have the care of children.’

The Bishop reiterated the point made by the Prime Minister in 2008, when he said:

‘…I want to see more couples stay together, and we know that the best way to ensure this is to support marriage. Not because it matters how adult men and women conduct their relationships. But because it matters how children are brought up. Nothing matters more than children.’

The Bishop also talked of the Judeao-Christian view that children are to be seen as ‘a precious gift from God’ and that we need to rediscover this. Seeing them instead as mini or potential adults damages this tradition, as is illustrated by the early sexualisation of children.

He then went on to acknowledge:

‘…that the role of government in promoting marriage, and stable relationships, and good parenting, is limited. But there are certain things which only government can do, and in the Coalition Agreement there is a commitment to recognise marriage in the tax system through the introduction of transferable allowances between partners.’

The Bishop of Chester said that to criticise a transferable tax allowance on the grounds that it shouldn’t be necessary to offer financial incentives for couples to marry is to miss the point. What’s important is that a recognition for marriage in the tax system would send a powerful symbolic message, from Government, about the wider importance of marriage to society.

The Lord Bishop of Chester, Lord Browne of Belmont and Lord Mackay of Clashfern all called on the Government to take action on their Coalition Agreement pledge to implement a transferable tax allowance.

Lord Browne also used the debate as a chance to speak out about the tragedy of one-third of rescued child trafficking victims going missing from local authority care between 2007 and February 2010.

Lady Howe contributed to the two-and-a-half-hour balloted debate on the wellbeing of children, speaking of the importance of age verification on the internet to protect children from accessing age-inappropriate content. She expressed her ‘considerable concern’ that the recent Government consultation on parental internet controls did not mention age verification in relation to any of the three possible parental control mechanisms it considered. The opt-in model, proposed by Lady Howe’s Online Safety Bill and supported by CARE, is one of the systems which the consultation considered. As set out in Lady Howe’s Bill the opt-in model requires both internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile phone operators (MPOs) to remove pornography from the service supplied to individuals unless they are 18 or over and specifically ‘opt-in’ to receive such material.

Lady Howe challenged the Government suggesting that:

‘…if they are to take seriously the need to care for our children and provide the best possible public policy framework to support optimal child development that, far from avoiding mentioning age verification, they should put it front and centre of their proposals. The technology is certainly there. The question is, is the political will there? ‘

Dr Daniel Boucher, Director of Parliamentary Affairs for CARE, said:

‘Today’s debate on the wellbeing of children coincided with the UN’s first International Day of the Girl Child and raised immensely important issues. We were particularly encouraged by the points raised in relation to marriage and its role in providing a stable family environment in which children can thrive, as well as the support Peers expressed for the transferable tax allowance and the discussion of efforts to tackle online child safety and child trafficking. CARE continues to campaign for the implementation of the transferable tax allowance as one aspect of the bigger picture for improving child wellbeing and we call upon the Government to deliver on its pledge to do this.’