DEPARTMENT FOR WORK
AND PENSIONS News Release (Reference: EMP-113) issued by COI News
Distribution Service. 23 October 2008
A new pilot aimed
at helping the parents of children in poverty get into work, was
launched in ten Local Authorities today. Parents will have access
to Jobcentre Plus personal advisers in Children's Centres to
help them access work focussed services. The pilot which will run
in 30 children's centres from January 2009, was announced
today by ministers, Kitty Ussher, Beverley Hughes and Stephen Timms.
As well as testing the impact of putting a full time Jobcentre
Plus Personal Adviser into children's centres across ten
Local Authorities, the pilot will also test what other support may
help parents move into employment. The pilot will complement the
existing initiative of providing tax credits advice through
Children's Centres, which is being expanded following a
successful pilot earlier in the year.
Child Poverty Minister Kitty Ussher said:
"The Government remains committed to eradicating child
poverty and around 600,000 children have been lifted out of
relative poverty since 1997 with measures including the
introduction of the national minimum wage. There are also 50,000
free childcare places are available to help unemployed parents
whilst they are training to return to work.
"Work for parents who can, remains the best route out of
poverty and we are committed to supporting them to find work, stay
in work and progress so that they can build a sustainable future
for their families. Making Jobcentres Plus services more
accessible will give parents a further helping hand to achieve
this goal."
Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said:
"This Government has done much to help lift children and
their families out of poverty, and today's announcement shows
that we remain fully committed to tackling child poverty through
support for families, carers and lone parents to get into work."
"We have introduced almost 3,000 Sure Start Children's
Centres across the country. They are a key mechanism for improving
outcomes for young children by reducing inequalities, supporting
families who need help and giving parents access to a wide range
of services. The Jobcentre Plus advisers are an invaluable
addition to the Children's Centres existing offer."
Stephen Timms said:
"In Budget 2008 the Government invested £ 125 million into
pilots to test new ways to tackle child poverty. The Government
understands how important it is to ensure that parents can access
support and advice in the most appropriate setting. Having
Jobcentre Plus staff available in children' s centres is just
one of the ideas we are working on.
"HMRC has piloted new services in Children's Centres to
give advice to parents on how to make the most of the support
which tax credits provide. This will be rolled out further in the
coming months and will include working with Jobcentre Plus.
Tackling child poverty is in everybody' s interests and it
needs to be everybody' s business; it is only through working
in partnership that child poverty can be eradicated."
The ten Local Authorities chosen to test the impact of embedding
Jobcentre Plus services in children's centres are:
Westminster, Lambeth, Nottingham City, Southampton, Sandwell,
Redcar and Cleveland, Somerset, Blackpool, Kingston Upon Hull and Ealing.
-END-
Notes to editors
* This pilot is one of a range of initiatives to tackle child
poverty announced in Budget 2008 with £125million of funding
allocated between 2008 and 2011
* The HMRC pilot was also announced in Budget 2008, and involved
HMRC working with the national network of Children's Centres
to identify effective ways of delivering tax credits services to
families with children under five.
DWP Press Office: 0203 267 5144
Website: http://www.dwp.gov.uk