Clause 1
Welfare Reform Bill
10:30 am
Paul Rowen (Rochdale, Liberal Democrat)
Thank you, Mr. Hood.
At this time of increased anxiety, lone parents, disabled people and those facing the prospect of unemployment will be the hardest hit. We thus believe that excluding lone parents with children of school age from the programme, as proposed in amendment 40, would be appropriate.
Amendment 65 would ensure that before any programmes were produced, there would have to be evidence that there was guaranteed and predictable access to good-quality, affordable and flexible child care.
A woman who came to see me in my surgery a couple of weeks ago was getting a job which would leave her under the 16-hour rule, so she would not be entitled to receive the child tax credits that would have enabled her to pay for her child care. She told me that she would end up being only £5 a week better off. She has decided that she wants to work, but she is working those hours for an extra £5 a week. I would prefer the Government to amend the 16-hour rule so that parents can pay for flexible child care and to ensure that child care is provided in areas where there are shortages. Such steps would represent money better spent on helping people back into work.
The provisions in this part of the Bill are meaningless because they do not deal with some of the problems and barriers that many lone parents face when moving into work. I would prefer the Government to concentrate on addressing that, rather than using the stick without the carrot.