§ 11. Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of the number of lone parents who will be eligible for the parent plus scheme. [15748]
§ Mr. LilleyThe parent plus scheme is a key part of our strategy to reduce benefit dependency by encouraging lone parents to support themselves and their families through work. We estimate that the scheme will offer advice and help to up to 100,000 lone parents on income support who wish to return to work.
§ Mr. SheermanWhere have the Government been for the past 17 years? A dependency culture has grown over those 17 years, year on year, and ever more young lone mothers depend on low benefits. Those young mothers want an opportunity culture, not a dependency culture. It is too late for this Government, but the new Labour Government will introduce opportunity, not dependency, for those mothers.
§ Mr. LilleyWe have been here: introducing family credit to help lone parents back into work; extending aid to provide a child care disregard to help lone parents back into work; and introducing parent plus to help lone parents back into work. The Leader of the Opposition—who has just entered the Chamber—goes off to Amsterdam to 144 announce Labour's policy to help lone parents back into work, as well he might. The second plank of his plan was that he
would relax the 16 hour rule for lone parents under 25 and without qualifications.He should know that there is no limit on the amount of study that lone parents can undertake. Therefore, he was completely misinformed. It is no wonder that he goes abroad to make speeches about domestic policy. If he made them at home, he would be laughed out of court.