19-11-04
Edinburgh lone parent pilot ignores failure of New Deal
John Barrett, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, today
warned the Government that anEdinburghpilot project to help
lone parents find work would not address the basic failures
of the New Deal system.
Edinburgh is one of several areas across the UK where the
Department of Work & Pensions has chosen to pilot two
new measures targetted at lone parents who are involved in
the New Deal for Lone Parent (NDLP) programme.
The first is a ‘Work Search Premium’, which provdes
an extra £20 a week to lone parents who are actively
searching for a job and have been receiving Income Support
for more than a year. The second is the “In Work
Credit”, which gives lone parents £40 a week
extra for their first year in a new job. Both measures
are designed to encourage lone parents back into full time
employment.
However, in a letter to the Minister for Work, John Barrett
MP said the pilots failed to address the underlying failure
of the New Deal for Lone Parents. Figures obtained
by Mr Barrett show that only half of NDLP participants have
left income support and entered employment.
In a statement, John Barrettsaid:
“The New Deal for Lone Parents is not a cheap programme,
costing taxpayers over £47 million every year. This
makes it important for the scheme to be effective but all
the evidence
suggests the NLDP is failing in its desired effect.
“Barely half lone parents who have left the NDLP have
entered employment with the remainder staying on income support.
This shows an underlying problem with the system, which will
not
be solved by tinkering at the edges through pilots such as
those being carried out in Edinburgh. Flexibility is
the key when it comes to training programmes and the ‘one
size fits all’ approach involved with the New Deal
is what must be changed.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
• More information on the New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP)
is available at
www.newdeal.gov.uk/newdeal.asp?DealID=LPAR
•
Information from the House of Commons Library showed that
550,930 lone parents left the NDLP by the end of June 2004. Of
these leavers:
- 281,040 (51%) left for employment;
- 3,860 (less than 1%) transferred to other benefits;
- 181,540 (33%) withdrew for other reasons but remained for Income Support;
- 73,070 (13%) left for unknown destinations.