Single Parents (Hansard, 1 February 1989)

HC Deb 01 February 1989 vol 146 cc293-4W 293W

§ Mr. Redmond
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the results to date of the pilot exercises being carried out by officers from his Department at Eastbourne and Leicester benefit offices on single parents' reliance on social security benefits; if he will list the benefits being claimed and by sex; what consideration in the exercise is being given to child care provision and job training; whether this exercise will be carried out at other offices; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
Independent research exploring the motivations and perceptions of lone parents receiving benefit has been commissioned. It will look at a wide range of lone parents' circumstances including child care arrangements and job training.
A pilot of the design of the study is currently under way in Sittingbourne and Leicester. A sample of lone parents receiving income support have been selected at random and invited to participate in the study. The results from this pilot, which is scheduled for completion on 24 February, will be used to ensure that the main study is effective.
The national study will begin in April 1989 in 44 locations across the country and will include lone parents receiving income support or one-parent benefit only. The final report is due in May 1990.

§ Mr. Simon Burns
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has any plans to introduce monitoring procedures for one-parent benefit.

§ Mr. Peter Lloyd
One-parent benefit is paid to 670,000 claimants and estimated expenditure on it in 1988–89 is £169 million. There is at present no procedure for reviewing entitlement to the benefit. Procedures for postal294W review of claims exist for a number of other social security benefits such as income support and invalidity benefit. We have therefore decided that arrangements for postal review of claims to one-parent benefit should be introduced. A postal review of existing claims will be conducted, starting in February. In addition a procedure for regular postal review of new claims will be introduced and this will begin in 1990.