HC Deb 20 April 1998 vol 310 cc537-9W
Mr. Healey

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many New Deal advisers for lone parents will be in post on(a) 6 April 1998 and (b) 1 October 1998; and, of those, how many will be recruited from (i) the Benefits Agency, (ii) the Employment Service and (iii) elsewhere. [38104]

Mr. Keith Bradley

Since July last year, 72 Personal Advisers have delivered the first phase of New Deal for Lone Parents, in eight areas across the country. From 6 April, 48 new advisers, together with 66 managers and support staff, join them to deliver the second phase of New Deal for Lone Parents nationally. The second phase represents the period from 6 April to September when New Deal for Lone Parents is extended to all lone parents making a new or repeat claim for Income Support. As numbers being contacted through the New Deal for Lone Parents, the number of Personal Advisers will also rise throughout this period to more than 330 trained Personal Advisers by the end of June.

Preparation for the third phase of the New Deal for Lone Parents—the introduction of a full national programme available to all lone parents—will see further advisers recruited and trained between July and October. By the end of October more than 800 New Deal for Lone Parents Personal Advisers are expected to be in post.

The Personal Advisers for Phase 1—the prototypes for New Deal for Lone Parents—were recruited from within the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service. The Personal Advisers currently working in the Benefits Agency will be offered the chance to transfer to the Employment Service. The majority of Personal Advisers for Phase 2 have been recruited from the Employment Service.

For Phase 3, staff in the Employment Service, Benefits Agency and Child Support Agency will be invited to apply for Personal Adviser posts. The three agencies are currently finalising a framework agreement which will allow this to happen.

Mr. Rendel

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents with children aged under five years there are(a) in total and (b) in Scotland for each year since 1979; and what are the forecasts for each year up to the year 2000. [39039]

Mr. Keith Bradley

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is set out in the table.

Lone parents with children under five—Great Britain
Year 000s
1988/89 420
1989/90 480
1990/91 520
1991/92 550
1992/93 580
1993/94 610
1994/95 620
1995/96 640
1996/97 650
1997/98 660
1998/99 680
1999/2000 690
2000/01 700

Notes:

  1. 1. DSS estimates and projections, which are based on data from the General Household Survey and Family Resources Survey.
  2. 2. All figures are rounded to the nearest ten thousand.

Mr. Rendel

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the number of lone parents currently claiming(a) income support and (b) family credit who have a child aged (i) under 11, (ii) 11 to 15 and (iii) 16 to 18 years. [38647]

Mr. Keith Bradley

The information is set out in the table.

Lone parents with two or more children may appear more than once in each column depending on the ages of their children.

Income Support and Family Credit lone parents with a child in the following age bands
Age band Income Support Family credit
Under 11 years 843,000 252,000
11 to 15 years 334,000 157,000
16 to 18 years 84,000 50,000

Notes:

  1. 1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.
  2. 2. Income Support lone parents are those receiving the lone parent premium.
  3. 3. Family Credit lone parents are all single claimants with dependants.
  4. 4. Sample size 5 per cent.

Sources:

  1. 1. Family Credit Statistics 5 per cent. sample of awards, November 1997.
  2. 2. Income Support Statistics Quarterly Inquiry, August 1997.