This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New Deal for Lone parents goes Scotland-wide
26/10/1998
From today more than 92,000 lone parents in Scotland can get personalised advice and training to help them get work.
The comprehensive service offered through the New Deal for Lone Parents launched today includes advice on finding suitable childcare, job preparation and search skills and a personalised calculation of comparative in-work and out-of-work incomes.
Employment Service Personal Advisers will be inviting every lone parent in Scotland on Income Support, whose youngest child is of school age, to learn more about the initiative. Lone parents with children of pre-school age are also welcome to use the service.
Launching the initiative in Glasgow Scottish Business and Industry Minister Lord Macdonald said:
"For the first time ever in Scotland, all lone parents can get access to an initiative which can give them a real chance to move off benefits and achieve an independent working life. In the past, very little was done to help them find work until their youngest child reached the age of sixteen. This has now changed. We know that many lone parents want to work and this Government believes they should be given the help they need to find work.
"Since July 1997 we have been piloting the New Deal for Lone Parents initiative in the Clyde Valley area and so far we have found work for 219 people.
"The pilot also revealed that lone parents were keen to know more about how the programme can help them. Over 80% of those interviewed said they wanted to take part. We can build on this willingness amongst lone parents to get away from a life on benefits. The New Deal can help break down the barriers and enable lone parents to realise their aspirations."
BACKGROUND
1. The New Deal for Lone Parents is a joint DSS/DfEE-led initiative which aims to provide lone parents on Income Support with the help they need to take up employment and remain in it. The programme will be backed by £191 million across Great Britain over the life of this Parliament, financed by the windfall tax.
2. Personal Advisers Pilots have been running in eight areas since July 1997. From April 1998 the service has been available to lone parents claiming Income Support for the first time. From October 1998 the initiative came into operation for existing claimants of Income Support.
3. Advice given to lone parents by Employment Service Personal Advisers will cover finding suitable childcare facilities. The Government have committed £4.7 million in the current year to develop a childcare strategy for Scotland. A total of £91 million will be available for childcare in Scotland from 1999-2002.
News Release: 2182/98
26 October, 1998