Iain Duncan Smith thinktank laments Tory compromises over family policies

[Alison J Stevens]

Iain Duncan Smith thinktank laments Tory compromises over family policies

Centre for Social Justice claims failure to meet pledge to give marriage tax break is symbolic of inaction on family breakdown

A thinktank founded by Iain Duncan Smith has been very critical of the first year of the coalition government. Photograph: John Stillwell/PA

A thinktank founded by the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, has delivered a withering assessment of the coalition’s first year, complaining that Tory plans to enact “family friendly” policies fell by the wayside as a result of compromises with the Liberal Democrats.

David Cameron’s failure to meet a pledge to give married couples a tax break was symbolic of his government’s “compromise-driven inaction” on family breakdown, the Centre for Social Justice said.

The report comes just months after Duncan Smith, a former Conservative leader who remains a patron of the CSJ, risked stoking tensions with Lib Dem colleagues by renewing calls for the state to reward marriage financially. Coalition relations are also under fresh strain following the defeat of the Lib Dem-supported push for a shift to the AV electoral system.

“Compromise to avoid difficult family policy decisions means it’s just business as usual,” said the CSJ’s “report card”, which was produced to mark the anniversary of the power-sharing deal.

The CSJ complained the tax break plan had “moved off radar” because of opposition from the Lib Dems, while ministers were accused of lacking ambition. The family policy was “a disappointing continuation of the last government’s failed approach,” according to the report, which added that the coalition had committed “a paltry £7.5m to relationship support”.

It gave good scores to welfare reform and drug and alcohol policy, but said benefit caps should be phased in to avoid damaging drops in state support.

School reforms had been poorly implemented and no vision set out for helping people get out of serious debt, it added, giving ministers two out of ten on dealing with family breakdown.

Prior to the general election, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg condemned Tory plans to offer tax breaks for married couples as “patronising drivel that belongs in the Edwardian age”.

Duncan Smith, a long-term proponent of the benefits of marriage to prevent social problems, pressed the case in February for promoting marriage to ward off family breakdown when he cited research indicating that as many as 90% of young people aspire to marry, but suggesting that some hold back for financial reasons. The CSJ report gave eight out of 10 to Duncan Smith’s plans to increase incentives to work.