Welfare Reform Bill

If the Secretary of State thought it was legally impossible, why has he admitted that there is a possibility that interest will be charged on these loans by putting it in his consultation paper? There will be further discussion on this issue when the Bill reaches Committee, but our position is clear: we believe that the Government should not be creating a two-tier approach to these social fund loans and he should not potentially be charging those sorts of rates of interest to some of the poorest people in society, who need access to this money. Another area of concern for many people—this was raised by one of the Secretary of State's Labour colleagues a little earlier—is the Government's planned changes for lone parents. Our green paper published last year proposed that lone parents should be transferred to jobseeker's allowance and required to seek work actively once their youngest child turns seven. The Government initially agreed with us, but their proposals now go further. [Interruption.] The Secretary of State puts up his hands and says ““Five””, but when we published our green paper we said seven—he could go back and check that. The Government would now demand that parents with younger children engage in what is described as ““work-related activity””. We will want to probe the Government on exactly what they mean by that. How much of a commitment in both time and activity will they demand from lone parents with very young children? The Government say that the activity plans will be drawn up in partnership with lone parents, yet they want the power to direct them to do activities to which they have not agreed under that partnership. How will child care be provided? In many areas up and down the country good-quality, affordable child care is not available to these parents. The Secretary of State says that he wants to introduce new conditions for lone parents who have children aged three to six, but I fear that he may go even further—down to lone parents with children as young as one. As he told The Times last year:"““I wouldn't rule out going down to one””." Crucially, what sort of sanctions do the Government intend to impose on lone parents who do not comply? If the sanctions are to be financial, I would remind the Secretary of State that these families are often among the poorest in society. If the penalties are to be paid in time, I would ask how the child care will be provided and funded. Understandably, clarification of the detail behind this proposal is needed. Although my party and I agree that parents should be supported to get back into the workplace, it is crucial that parents of very young children are given the freedom and support to determine how they manage that choice. Another issue on which we will be seeking clarity from the Government in Committee—the Secretary of State referred to this matter earlier—is that of sanctions against absent parents who are not paying their child maintenance. The sanctions are to be in the form of taking away passports and driving licences. He and his Ministers have been keen to use this provision as a media hook, but, as I said, it was a Minister in the House of Lords who on the Report stage of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill agreed that the power should remain with the courts. All parents have a responsibility to support their children, no matter what their family circumstances. Although I welcome measures to aid that, I shall seek more detail from the Government on how this provision would work in practice, particularly as regards an effective and efficient appeals system.