HC Deb 02 June 1997 vol 295 cc16-7
16. Mr. Heppell

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if she will make a statement on the proportion of children being brought up in families dependent on income support. [892]

Mr. Field

Almost 3 million children are growing up in households dependent on income support—a threefold increase since 1979.

Mr. Heppell

Does my right hon. Friend agree that as almost one child in four is brought up on income support, the best way to help those 3 million children is through a Government strategy that puts people back to work and off benefits?

Mr. Field

The answer to that question is yes. I hope that the House paid careful attention to the earlier answer of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State about single parents. We do not share the view held in some quarters that endless bullying is required. Our experience from our constituencies is that many single parents wish to work but are prevented from doing so by inadequate child care provision. My hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Mrs. Jackson) made that point earlier. I hope that hon. Members will discover over the coming months how the Government's strategy will evolve and how different we shall be from the previous Administration.

Mr. Evans

While it is not ideal for any families with young children—or for pensioners, for that matter—to be dependent on income support, the reality is that some are. Will the Minister assure the House that if the Chancellor of the Exchequer's windfall tax results in higher prices for gas, electricity and other utilities, families on income support will get the protection they deserve?

Mr. Field

I am surprised by the hon. Gentleman's question—he should know how the uprating is done. Those families will be protected.

Mr. Skinner

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is fairly easy to get a headline saying that the Government will drive people back into work and off welfare, but that the more difficult thing is to find the work? In my area, in coalfields throughout Britain and in many inner-city areas, there are literally thousands of people in each constituency who do not have a chance of finding work because there is not any work. In one third of my constituency, which has been devastated by pit closures, there are more than 50 per cent. unemployed. I request my hon. Friend and other Ministers to understand that, although the easy headline may be all right for a day or two, the important thing is that this Government will be characterised by their success in finding work for those who badly need it.

Mr. Field

I welcome my hon. Friend's question because I, too, represent an area where many people are unemployed—as a result of the closure of the shipyard. My hon. Friend, like all hon. Members, will pay careful attention to what we say and put on the record. We stood for election and won on the basis that we would raise a windfall tax and use it to offer four options to all people between 18 and 25. Such options have never been offered to that group by any previous Government.

Clearly, the opportunities will be matched by sanctions. This Government are not, however, in the business of picking on claimants for the sake of roughing them up. We are not always responsible for the headlines that appear in our names and I hope that people have paid careful attention to the statements made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and ministerial colleagues this afternoon.