§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the progress of the New Deal for Lone Parents in Coventry. [2974]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownBy the end of April this year, 1,562 lone parents in the Coventry district had participated in the New Deal for Lone Parents. Of these, 49 had taken up education or training to improve their skills and 578 had found and work.
371WAcross the country we are offering lone parents new choices. We are inviting lone parents into Jobcentres to give them the chance to find out about all of the measures that we have introduced. We are offering lone parents more opportunities than ever before to move off benefit and into work, providing a better future for themselves and their children.
§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the evaluation of the New Deal for Lone Parents will be published. [2271]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe evaluation of the prototype of NDLP was published on 3 March 2000. Follow up reports and research on the national phase of the programme have been published since then and new items of research are published as they are completed. We expect to publish a report, bringing together findings from all strands of the evaluation, in 2003.