§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 22 December 1997,794W Official Report, column 465, for the period 23 July 1997 to 23 January 1998, how many (a) letters were sent out to lone parents, (b) lone parents attended interviews or booked appointments, (c) lone parents agreed to continue to participate following an interview, (d) lone parents found jobs, (e) lone parents failed to respond to the initial letter sent to them and (f) lone parents declined to participate following an interview with a personal adviser. [27540]
§ Mr. Keith BradleySufficient data to evaluate the results of the New Deal for Lone Parents are not yet available, and conclusions cannot be drawn from early figures. A full report of the New Deal for Lone Parents will be published in 1999. The impact of the first phase will be measured by comparing outcomes for lone parents in the New Deal areas with the outcomes for lone parents in a similar, but geographically separate, group of control areas where the New Deal service is not yet available.
Information on the operation of the New Deal for Lone Parents is available up to and including 31 December.
As at 31 December 1997:
16,311 first invitations had been issued to lone parents.5,240 initial interviews had been arranged, and 3,404 lone parents had attended interviews.2,728 lone parents had agreed to participate in the New Deal for lone Parents following initial interviews.1,015 lone parents have found jobs following agreement to participate in the New Deal for Lone Parents programme.Information on the number of lone parents who have failed to respond to initial letters is not available from the Management Information Statistics reports which are kept on New Deal for Lone Parents. However, Personal Advisers will follow up initial letters with further contacts.
676 lone parents have declined to participate in the New Deal for Lone Parents programme following an interview with a personal adviser.
§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents through the New Deal for Lone Parents(a) have been sent letters, (b) have obtained employment and (c) of those who obtained employment were in full-time employment on 1 February. [27698]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyData for 1 February 1998 are not yet available. As of 31 December 1997, 16,311 lone parents had received initial letters through the New Deal for Lone Parents; 1,015 lone parents had obtained employment; of which 755 were in full-time employment.
§ Mr. Duncan SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many lone parents who have obtained work through the New Deal for Lone Parents scheme are aged(a) between 21 and 25, (b) between 26 and 30, (c) between 31 and 35, (e) between 36 and 40 and (f) over 40 years of age. [27699]
795W
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe information requested is set out in the table.
Number of lone parents who have obtained work through the new deal for lone parent by age groups as of 31 December 1997 Age Group Number of lone parents who have obtained jobs 21–25 139 26–30 219 31–35 249 36–40 220 over 40 155
§ Mr. SarwarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is her estimate of the number of lone parents who are(a) in work and (b) not in work. [25648]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyWe estimate that there are around 730,000 lone parents in work and 930,000 out of work.
Notes:
These figures are derived from the latest Department of Social Security estimates of the total number of lone parents in 1996–97, and from the Spring 1997 Labour Force Survey which suggests that around 44 per cent of lone parents in Great Britain are in work.In work" includes those lone parents who are employed, self-employed and in Government training schemes on a part-time or full-time basis.Figures rounded to the nearest 10,000.