New Deal for Lone Parents (Hansard, 28 July 1997)

§ 6. Mr. Bill Michie
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will make a statement on the Government's new deal proposals to help lone parents into work. [9033]

§ Ms Harman
Our manifesto committed us to introducing a new deal for lone parents. That has already begun in eight areas, including Sheffield—in which my hon. Friend's constituency lies—where it is offering hope and opportunity for 10,000 lone mothers on income support, who are bringing up 20,000 children.

§ Mr. Michie
I welcome the Government's programme of removing the barriers that prevent lone parents who want to work from doing so. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that a lone parent who finally takes a job but who then, for reasons that were unforeseen initially, cannot continue with that employment will not be financially disadvantaged relative to their previous situation?

§ Ms Harman
There is no question of people being penalised if they leave their work. Lone parents who go to work are, on average, £50 a week better off than they were on benefit. That is why so many of them want to work. Part of the job of the personal advisers to lone parents, who have been appointed already in eight areas, including Sheffield, is to assist lone parents when they start work, helping them to get their child care and benefits sorted out and advising them during their first 8 few weeks and months in work to ensure that they manage to keep their work rather than falling back to income support.

§ Mr. Brazier
Bearing in mind the fact that some of those who pay taxes for such child care are low-earning families, which group of lone parents does the right hon. Lady think will benefit from the extension of the child care disregard from £40 a week to £100 a week?

§ Ms Harman
The child care disregard is designed to increase the affordability of child care, as part of our national child care strategy. We want more people to be trained with child care qualifications to improve the supply of child care workers. We also want to increase the number of child care places. We shall do that through the single regeneration budget, as a start, and with funds from the midweek lottery. That will benefit not only lone parents, but low-income families in which the woman is working and wants to ensure that her children are safely looked after while she is at work.