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12/10/2006
Government announces help for lone parents
Lone parents are to receive an extra £20 on top of their benefits if they take active steps towards work, under a pilot scheme being rolled out next year.
Under the scheme, lone parents with children aged 11 and over will be eligible for a Work Related Activity Premium (WRAP) worth £20 a week if they agree to take the necessary steps to prepare themselves for entering and competing in the workplace.
The WRAP will be supported by the introduction of quarterly Work Focused Interviews (WFI) with a personal adviser where a plan of action is agreed that will help them make that step off benefits and into work.
The schemes will be introduced from April 2007 in the New Deal Plus for Lone Parents Pilot areas. These include Bradford, Sandwell and Dudley, Leicestershire, North London, South East London, South East Wales and Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders.
Speaking at the Inclusion and Child Poverty Action Group conference, Employment and Welfare Reform Minister Jim Murphy said: "Helping lone parents find employment is a vitally important part of our wider strategy to eradicating child poverty. Children of lone parents are three times more likely to live in poverty.
"Nine out of ten parents say they want to work, either now or in the future, and work-focused interviews ensure they all know about the range of opportunities available to them. The introduction of the Work Related Activity Premium pilot will enable us to test if the extra financial assistance will encourage lone parents with older children to actively take steps to make the transition back into the work place."
(KMcA/SP)
Under the scheme, lone parents with children aged 11 and over will be eligible for a Work Related Activity Premium (WRAP) worth £20 a week if they agree to take the necessary steps to prepare themselves for entering and competing in the workplace.
The WRAP will be supported by the introduction of quarterly Work Focused Interviews (WFI) with a personal adviser where a plan of action is agreed that will help them make that step off benefits and into work.
The schemes will be introduced from April 2007 in the New Deal Plus for Lone Parents Pilot areas. These include Bradford, Sandwell and Dudley, Leicestershire, North London, South East London, South East Wales and Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders.
Speaking at the Inclusion and Child Poverty Action Group conference, Employment and Welfare Reform Minister Jim Murphy said: "Helping lone parents find employment is a vitally important part of our wider strategy to eradicating child poverty. Children of lone parents are three times more likely to live in poverty.
"Nine out of ten parents say they want to work, either now or in the future, and work-focused interviews ensure they all know about the range of opportunities available to them. The introduction of the Work Related Activity Premium pilot will enable us to test if the extra financial assistance will encourage lone parents with older children to actively take steps to make the transition back into the work place."
(KMcA/SP)
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