§ Ms BuckTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of the lone parents subject to sanctions for non-attendance at compulsory personal adviser meetings. what was the average value of the sanction in terms of lost benefit; how long, on average, the sanctions were applied for; what was the longest period of sanction; how many lone parents subject to suspension had their sanctions reversed and under what circumstances; what analysis has been undertaken of the reasons for non-attendance at interview; and what evaluation has been undertaken on the effectiveness and impact of sanctions. [67550]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownWe are giving lone parents more choices and more help than ever before to move off welfare and into work, in return for greater responsibility to consider the help that is on offer. On 30 April 2001 we introduced compulsory Personal Adviser (PA) meetings for lone parents across the country to ensure that they are aware of the help available. In cases where a lone parent is unable to attend a PA meeting, or the lone parent's circumstances mean that the meeting would not be appropriate, then the requirement to take part in the PA meeting can he deferred to a later date or waived completely.
When PA meetings were introduced they were compulsory for all lone parents making a new or repeat claim for Income Support whose youngest child was of school age. From April 2002 these meetings have been extended to all lone parents making new or repeat claims with a youngest child aged three years or over. In addition, since October 2001, any lone parent making a new or repeat claim for benefit at one of our integrated Jobcentre Plus offices is required to take part in a Work Focused Interview, regardless of the age of their youngest child.
Attendance at a PA meeting at the new/repeat claim stage is a condition of entitlement to benefit. If a lone parent chooses not to attend the meeting they will not receive any benefit. For the majority of lone parents who do attend, review meetings are held six months into their claim and then annually while they are still in receipt of Income Support.
At the same time as PA meetings were being introduced for new/repeat claims they also began to be rolled out to lone parents already in receipt of Income Support. During 2001–02 annual PA meetings became compulsory for lone parents in receipt of Income Support with a youngest child aged between 13 and 15 years old. From April 2002, the annual PA meetings were extended to include lone parents with a youngest child over the age of 9.
These lone parents are given up to three pre-notified appointments and if they fail, without good cause, to take part in the PA meeting they are subject to a benefit sanction. This sanction is equivalent to 20 per cent. of the Income Support personal allowance for a single person aged 25 or over (currently £10.74 per week). This sanction remains in force until the lone parent takes part in a PA meeting.
1550WThe number of lone parents having their benefit not awarded or sanctioned following non attendance at a PA meeting is in the table:
Lone Parent Personal Adviser Meetings (To June 2002) No. entering PA meeting Process No. of Adverse decisions made No. of decisions overturned New/repeat claim 131,746 875 11 Existing claim 83,653 1,665 81 At review N/A 191 4 Adverse decisions can be overturned if the lone parent demonstrates that they had good cause for not attending the meeting. Information on the individual circumstances of the lone parents is not collected centrally.
As the sanctions can be indefinite we are not currently able to give estimates for the average length of these sanctions or the total value of the sanction in terms of lost benefit. Qualitative and case study research into the reasons for non-attendance at PA meetings is planned to start later this year. We plan to publish the findings of the research in spring 2003.