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SOCIAL SECURITY
Lone Parents
17. Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if lone parents will have their benefits
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reduced if they fail to attend the initial interview of the new deal for lone parents. [58383]
Angela Eagle:
There is no requirement for lone parents to attend for a New Deal for Lone Parents interview--the New Deal for Lone Parents is voluntary.
26. Mr. Patrick Hall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the progress being made on the Government's new deal for lone parents. [58394]
27. Mrs. Heal:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the Government's actions to help lone parents move from income support into work. [58395]
32. Mr. Fitzpatrick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on progress on the new deal for lone parents. [58400]
Angela Eagle:
The Government are committed to helping lone parents overcome the difficulties which may act as barriers to employment through the New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP). Under the NDLP lone parents on Income Support are offered a tailor-made personal adviser service to help them improve their employability and move from welfare into work. The programme provides support and advice on training needs, jobsearch, better-off calculations, child care information and in-work support for those who need it.
Results up to 25 September show that 9 out of 10 lone parents who attended an interview agreed to participate in the programme, and more than a quarter of these moved into work. Research on lone parents who had moved into work (and onto Family Credit) following participation in NDLP show that they are on average, £39 a week better off, and have reduced their dependency on benefit by £42 a week.
Interim findings of an independent evaluation of the NDLP in the phase 1 prototypes show that the programme is having a marked effect on the rate at which lone parents move off Income Support--around 2 percentage points reduction on the number of lone parents on Income Support compared to the control areas and almost 7 per cent. fewer new cases remaining on Income Support. A final evaluation report on the NDLP phase 1 will be available in Autumn 1999.
24. Dr. Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what benefits, which are not currently means tested, he plans to means test in future. [58392]
Mr. Darling:
We are reforming the welfare system based on the principles we have set out to ensure the system delivers work for those who can and security for those who cannot. I announced details of our plans for reform of disability benefits and for the introduction of a single gateway to the benefit system for people of working age last month. Details of our plans for the reform of other benefits will be announced in due course.
Mr. Webb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on his proposals to reduce dependence on means-tested benefits. [58403]
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Angela Eagle:
We believe there is a continuing role for a variety of benefits. So for instance my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's announcement last month included proposals to reduce the reliance on means-tested help of people disabled early in life, and extend non- means-tested, non-contributory, tax free help to severely disabled young children, while also providing more generous means-tested benefits through the Disability Income Guarantee for disabled people under 60 with the highest care needs and the lowest incomes.
30. Siobhain McDonagh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what action the Government have taken to improve support for children through the social security system. [58398]
Angela Eagle:
We have announced a series of measures which will improve the financial support given to children through the benefits system. These include:
Mr. Caplin:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress the Child Support Agency has made in clearing its backlogs; and if he will make a statement. [60231]
Angela Eagle:
The Child Support Agency met its target for last year to reduce the maintenance assessment backlog (i.e. cases which are over 52 weeks old and have not yet been assessed) to less than 5 per cent. of applications received, and is on target to clear the remainder by the end of this financial year. As the older cases are cleared some Non Resident Parents will inevitably be assessed as owing arrears for periods dating back a number of years.
We can today announce that we are extending the temporary scheme introduced by the previous Government limiting the collection of arrears to six months as long as the Non Resident Parent is fully compliant for a period of 12 months.
Additionally, from Monday 30 November, we will also be extending the coverage of this scheme to include cases where arrears have arisen due to delays in reviews carried out on change of circumstance and in the reviews carried out every two years as required by Section 16 of the Child Support Act 1991.
The extension of this scheme is another indication of the continuing difficulties faced by the Child Support Agency. The complexity of the current formula, continues to limit the Agency's ability to provide the kind of service the public has the right to expect. Our proposals for a
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new, simple, straightforward and transparent service were set out in the Green Paper "CHILDREN FIRST: a new approach to child support" published in July this year.
31. Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement concerning the support available through the new deal to disabled people with communication difficulties. [58399]
Mr. Timms:
People taking part in the New Deal for Disabled People will have access to the range of disability programmes currently provided by the Employment Service. This includes the Access to Work Programme which provides tailored support for people with communication difficulties.
Mr. Pickles:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what estimate he has made of the number of personal advisers which will be required for the implementation of the single benefit gateway; [58766]
(3) what targets he plans to set for the ratio of benefit claimants to personal advisers. [58749]
Angela Eagle:
The single gateway will be piloted in 12 locations, commencing in June 1999.
One of the main reasons for piloting this initiative before introduction nationally is to estimate the number of staff required to meet our objective of ensuring all benefit claimants of working age have access to a personal adviser.
Mr. Pickles:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what sanctions will be imposed on those who do not attend the initial interview under the single benefit gateway. [58765]
Angela Eagle:
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Answer I gave my right hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) on 3 November 1998, Official Report, column 552.
33. Mr. Collins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the financial implications of his proposed changes to incapacity benefit. [58401]
Mr. Timms:
The modernisation of Incapacity Benefit for new claimants, with reformed contribution conditions and the taking into account of 50 per cent. of amounts of occupational and personal pensions over £50 a week, will reduce expenditure on Incapacity Benefit by £90 million in the first year (2001-02), rising to some £650 to £700 million a year in the long run.
Dr. Iddon:
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proposals he has to reform the all work test. [58396]
Mr. Timms:
We intend to reform the test so that, as well as determining entitlement to benefit, it provides additional, constructive, information about people's
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capacities which, together with a wider employability assessment, can be used to help them plan for a return to work.
Child Benefit for the eldest child will be increased from next April, by the largest ever amount, and from 9 November families on Income Support and Family Credit have been getting an extra £2.50 for each child under 11.
The New Deal for Lone Parents offers a tailor-made service of help and advice for people who are bringing up children on their own to make the move from Income Support into employment. We are investing over £190 million to help lone parents who want to work.
Two significant improvements in the support for disabled children were announced in October 1998 in our consultation document "A New Contract for Welfare--Support for Disabled People": the Disability Income Guarantee, and the extension of the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance to children aged three and four.
(2) what estimate he has made of the cost of training and maintaining a personal adviser under the single benefit gateway; [58748]
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