Lone Parent Employment

: That is an issue on which we concur across the Chamber, and I welcome that. I have talked about making work pay and making work possible. I also want to talk about the support that we have provided to help lone parents back into work through our introduction of compulsory work-focused interviews and the new deal for lone parents. As I said earlier, in the past not a lot happened until a lone parent's youngest child reached the age of 16 and she—we are talking mainly about women—was suddenly thrown into a world where her entitlement to income support was challenged. In March 2000 we introduced the first compulsory work-focused interviews, and a growing and important body of evidence now demonstrates the positive impact of that intervention on people's lives. I talk endlessly to lone parents who have engaged with a personal advisor in a discourse about opportunities for work, although it could equally have been about other barriers that they face, such as problems in the home, financial problems, lack of confidence or lack of training. The ability to discuss all those issues with a personal advisor opens up opportunities for many women who previously felt that they did not have a proper contribution to make to society. Probably the most warming letters and cards that I receive are those from children of lone parents who have moved into work, saying, ““Thank you for making my mum happy.”” That makes it all feel worth while. The introduction of work-focused interviews has had a huge impact on many people's lives and has helped to bring parents on to the new deal for lone parents programme. Nearly a fifth of those who attend the compulsory work-focused interviews move on to that programme, and nearly half those who come on to the programme move into employment. Last October we extended the mandatory work-focused interview regime so that once a lone parent's youngest child reaches the age of 14, that parent is expected to have an interview every three months. That regularity of intervention and support is important and allows us more readily to prepare lone parents for moving into employment.