The Prime Minister visited Exeter yesterday as he launched plans to "family proof" future policies and pump an extra £19.5 million into relationship counselling.
During his visit to the office of Relate in Exeter, David Cameron announced measures designed to keep families together.
The Conservative leader said the move did not imply that a succession of controversial policies, such as welfare reform and the "bedroom tax", had not sufficiently gauged the effect on families.
"No, not at all. I think it has been a very family friendly government," he told The Western Morning News.
"Things like the right to request flexible working, shared parental leave – also we are the first government to introduce tax relief for childcare.
"Obviously, at the heart of every family is the need to have someone earning money and we have got two million more people in work.
"It's just taking it further and faster and saying we should have a formal process looking at the effect of individual policies on families. I think our welfare reforms have been very pro-family and have resulted in 700,000 fewer people receiving out of work benefits."
Mr Cameron also defended the deep cuts to council budgets, which had left local authorities in Devon and Cornwall struggling to shave more than a quarter of their annual income, and said the reductions would also pass the family test.
He met staff at the Relate office, one of 60 outposts of the counselling service around the country, which covers a huge area encompassing large swathes of Devon and part of Somerset.
Andrew Ketteringham, chairman of the board of trustees, said the extra £19.5m was "twice as much as before on relationship support" but said details remained "unclear".
He added: "What we don't know yet, because we only heard about this last night, is how this money is coming.
"Money will be comingto the Relationship Alliance of which Relate is by far the largest part. In what form we don't know yet."
Exeter Relate, which works with children under five, troubled families and also offers youth counselling, charges for appointments but offers means tested support.
Workers who met the PM welcomed the investment but said the centre was under threat of losing around £25,000 per year in NHS funding.
Rebecca Wellaway, a supervisor and counsellor, added: "What is not clear is how much money will be held centrally and how much is going to filter through to local level.
"The difference we would like to see is to be able extend the number of people we work with without cost being a barrier to access so we can help more people on lower income.
"It is important for people hearing the headline message not to make an assumption that everything at Relate was okay because we don't know how much we will have yet."
