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Welfare Reform Bill

I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. All but the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, look to be supporting the position that I am going to take. I shall try to deal with the noble Lord’s question about how Clause 2 operates. He will be aware that, so far as jobseeker’s allowance and full conditionality are concerned, we have already provided through regulations that that JSA regime will progressively apply to those where the youngest child is seven, so not for children below that age. Work-related activity is not just turning up at work-focused interviews; obviously, embedded within the programme are issues around work-related activity and possible mandation in respect of work-related activity. Although the framework of the Bill provides for a wider group of lone parents to be brought within it, we have been clear that the pathfinders we want to run would be focused on lone parents whose youngest child was not younger than three, so that would cover the three-to-six age group. Clause 2 is not only about lone parents; it is about partners as well, and there are other provisions within it. If the noble Lord wishes to press on that, I will sit down.