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<p><del class="ministerial">It is our assessment that no legislation taken forward
by the Northern Ireland Office since August 2014 has required the application of the
Family Test by the UK Government.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">The
Government is committed to supporting families. To achieve this, in 2014 we introduced
the Family Test, which aims to ensure that impacts on family relationships and functioning
are recognised early on during the process of policy development and help inform the
policy decisions made by Ministers. The Family Test was not designed to be a ‘tick-box’
exercise, and as such there is no requirement for departments to publish the results
of assessments made under the Family Test.</del></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><ins class="ministerial">Many
of the policy areas linked to strengthening families in Northern Ireland are devolved
matters. The UK Government is, though, helping families with the everyday cost of
living by keeping taxes low, including taking 31,000 people in Northern Ireland out
of paying income tax altogether (compared to 2015-16), freezing fuel duty for the
eight successive year and increasing the National Living Wage again from April 2018,
delivering a £600 annual pay-rise to full-time workers in Northern Ireland.</ins></p><p>
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