Lone Parent Employment

: I acknowledge that the economy has been in a flattened period in the past year, but would the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that although there has been a slight rise in claimant count, we have also seen a welcome reduction of those on active benefits, including both lone parents and those on incapacity benefit. That tends to suggest that our labour market interventions over the past few years have been effective in tackling the most disadvantaged in the labour market.