Now minister says all policies should pass a ‘loneliness’ test

EVERY government policy should be subject to a new ‘loneliness’ test, a minister has urged.

Tracey Crouch, the world’s first minister for loneliness, said the test would assess the impact of all policies on social isolation.

Future reforms or cuts in services, from children’s centres to rural bus services, would be scrutinised for any ‘unintended consequences’ that could increase the risk of people being cut off from others.

Miss Crouch also urged companies to build into their staff surveys a specific question about loneliness among their employees.

The minister was handed her new role in January following the recommendations of a report from the Jo Cox Commission.

she is now drafting a strategy on the issue that is due to be published this autumn.

Critics say cuts to sure start children’s centres have made it more difficult for young parents to make social contacts in their local area.

One solution could be ‘impact assessments’ on future public policy changes, similar to those applied for gender and disability, to gauge the possible effect on loneliness.

‘There is a recognition that there might have been unintended consequences of some decisions that have been made,’ she said in an interview with HuffPost UK. ‘And actually one of the things I’m looking at is whether or not we can start to use loneliness as a means of assessing policy before it is implemented.

‘so should we start to think about “how does this policy impact on isolation?”. We are bringing expertise around rural transport. If you axe a bus service, you do it for the right intentions but could it have an impact on isolation?

‘It may be that there is a recognition it would have an impact. It doesn’t mean it won’t go ahead but at least we’ve acknowledged that it could have that impact.’

It is not just a problem among the elderly living alone.

Recent statistics suggest that loneliness is particularly acute among the under- 24s, but also among young people arriving to work in a new city or town.

The minister, who has been inundated with queries from countries around the world about her role, wants private firms to look at their own policies.

‘The thing they absolutely need to do is look out for the welfare of their own employees,’ she said. ‘The Coop for example are fantastic in terms of measuring loneliness among their staff. I’d like to see that as a matter of course.’