Follow-up action needed to Pre Budget Report 2006

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06/12/06 Commenting on the Pre Budget Report, One Parent Families Chief Executive Chris Pond said:

"This pre-budget report has some good measures for children and lone parents but much more needs to be done if the Government is to meet its targets to halve child poverty and have a 70% lone parent employment rate by 2010."

Commenting on the announcement on the Child Maintenance premium (which will enable lone parents on the pre-2003 CSA scheme to keep up to £10 per week of any child maintenance they receive before their income support is reduced) Mr Pond said:

"We welcome the extension of the child maintenance premium to lone parents on the 'old', pre-2003 child maintenance scheme but we hope that the Government's forthcoming White Paper on child support will introduce a far more generous change by enabling single parents on income support to keep all of any child maintenance they receive from the CSA or its successor. This single measure would at a stroke remove a further 90,000 children from poverty and give the Government a far better chance of reaching its 2010 target of halving child poverty."

Commenting on the announcement on the In -work credit (a £40 weekly payment for lone parents in the first year of a job) Mr Pond said:

"The extension of the in -work credit pilots for another six months is welcome, but these cover only 250,000 lone parents out of the 1.9 million in the country. We hope that in the near future the Chancellor will build on today's announcement by rolling out the pilot programme nationwide. We also have concerns as to whether the in-work credits can meet their potential to help lone parents to get into work, given the swingeing cuts at Jobcentre Plus."

Commenting on the uprating of Child Tax Credit, Mr Pond said:

"We welcome the uprating of Child Tax Credit with earnings, fulfilling the promise made in Budget 2006, but as a member of the Campaign to End Child Poverty we believe the Chancellor must invest a further £4billion to halve child poverty by 2010."

Commenting on the Child Benefit change, Mr Pond said:

"Bringing forward child benefit eligibility to the 29th week of pregnancy is a good step forward towards the goal of giving every child the best start in life."

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