---

Jobseeker’s Allowance (Lone Parents) (Availability for Work) Regulations 2010

My Lords, I thank the Minister for presenting the regulations. I am pleased to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Thomas, in her observations on them. As with the previous order, these regulations also fail to tell the whole story. We do not, of course, oppose them but I would like to take the opportunity to probe the Minister a little more on the inconsistencies that exist within the Labour Government on their attitude to lone parents. There is no doubt about the importance of supporting lone parents back into the workplace when they are able. Indeed, we have heard echoes of the debates that we had on the Welfare Reform Bill, where there was considerable agreement on this task. I know that the Minister will agree—indeed, he referred to this in his opening remarks—especially after several days of debate with my noble friend Lord Freud on the Child Poverty Bill, that the benefits for both the parent and the child are immense. Employment is not only one of the surest routes out of poverty but also important for general health and happiness. In line with the principle of these regulations, I am sure that the Minister would also agree that parents without any other option should not be penalised. Given his stated concern for a lone parent of young children to be there for them when they come back from school, has any further consideration been given to the Conservative policy for parents of very young children? I am sure that noble Lords will regret that the very sensible amendment that this House voted into the Welfare Reform Bill last year, which would have prevented any financial sanction from being imposed on a lone parent with children under school age, was removed in another place and never made it into law. Does the Minister not think it rather inconsistent to protect a lone parent of children under 13 from being penalised for not being available outside school hours but not to protect the lone parent of a child under five from the same penalty? The Government are giving out a mixed message on childcare. Limiting work requirements to school hours is one thing, but the only long-term improvement for parents seeking to combine work with bringing up a child is genuinely flexible working. The Conservatives would extend the right to flexible working to all parents with children under the age of 18. In contrast, the Government recently attempted to remove tax relief for childcare vouchers—hardly a policy that would support the lone parent seeking to get back into work. These regulations do only half the job of providing a strategy to increase the opportunity for lone parents to engage in the world of work and, at the same time, to ensure that they and their dependants are supported and protected and their interests recognised.