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Mr. Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) for what reasons the decision was taken not to use the local jobcentres in the London borough of Tower Hamlets to deliver the employment zone and the working neighbourhood pilot; [36366]
(2) how jobcentre staff in the London borough of Tower Hamlets were given the opportunity to compete with the private sector to provide job seeking services. [36372]
Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 11 January 2006:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking for what reasons the decision was taken not to use the local jobcentres in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to deliver the Employment Zone and the Working Neighbourhood Pilot; and how jobcentre staff in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets were given the opportunity to compete with the private sector to provide job seeking services. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
In 1997 the then Employment Service was given the opportunity to compete to deliver the Employment Zone in Tower Hamlets, but decided not to submit an in-house bid. Instead, it formed a consortium with Manpower and Ernst & Young called Working Links' to provide a public/private partnership. This provided Jobcentre staff in Tower Hamlets with the opportunity of applying for secondment to work for Working Links.
Employment Zone contractors used their own premises to deliver their business. They were offered space within Jobcentre offices and most took the decision to provide a small presence for a first point of contact before referring customers to their own premises.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes to lone parent benefit entitlements have been implemented since 1990; and if he will make a statement. [36165]
Margaret Hodge: Currently, the only benefit for which lone parent" is a category for entitlement is income support.
The criteria allowing lone parents to qualify for income support have principally remained unchanged since 1988 in that the customer would, in addition to being a lone parent, also have to satisfy other conditions
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of entitlement common to all claimants. The criteria for claiming income support as a lone parent did see substantial change when Work Focused Interviews were introduced in August 2000.
The Work Focused Interview for Lone Parent (LPWFI) regulations require lone parents to participate in a Work Focused Interview at the outset of their claim. From October 2005 lone parents are also required to attend a Work Focused Interview once every three months when their youngest child is aged 14 or over, to help them prepare for the transition to JSA once their child reaches 16 years and avoid drift onto incapacity Benefit.
While the introduction of LPWFI presented a major change to the criteria for claiming the benefit, income support has continued to evolve to meet the needs of all the people it provides for. Many changes introduced on income support have not been exclusive to lone parents, though along with other client groups they have continued to benefit from the enhancements made to the benefit; such as Mortgage Interest Run-On (MIRO) or the recent introduction of Child Maintenance Premium (CMP).
The key social security changes affecting lone parents are in the table.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of lone parents are in employment; what work search responsibilities apply to lone parents with teenage children; and if he will make a statement. [36166]
Margaret Hodge: Since 1997 the lone parent employment rate has increased by 11 percentage points to 56.6 per cent. In May 2005 there were 787,000 people claiming lone parent benefits, down from 1,013,500 in May 1997.
New deal for lone parents (NDLP) is a voluntary programme, which is available to lone parents who are not working, or working less than 16 hours a week. They must be aged 16 or over and have a dependent child under 16 years of age. Under NDLP, lone parents are offered support and financial incentives via Personal Advisers, who can help their customers identify and deal with any barriers preventing them from moving into work.
Lone parents in receipt of income support are required to participate in a Work Focused Interview at the outset of their claim. From October 2005 lone parents are also required to attend a Work Focused Interview once every three months when their youngest
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child is aged 14 or over, to help them prepare for the transition to JSA once their child reaches 16 years and avoid drift onto incapacity benefit.
From October 2005 lone parents are also required to agree an action plan with their Personal Adviser as a condition of completing their initial WFI.
The condition of entitlement to IS as a lone parent ceases once their youngest child reaches age 16. At this stage, if they are not in work and wish to continue to receive benefit, they must claim jobseeker's allowance or, if they have a health problem,
incapacity benefit. They would then be subject to the respective conditionally rules associated with these benefits.
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