Key Briefings for Welfare Reform

OPFS has been working with Action for Children (Scotland) to progress amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill. These aim to ensure that a claimant will not face a loss of benefit where they are unable to take up work related requirements, because they are unable to access appropriate childcare which meets the needs of any child for which the claimant is the responsible carer.

At the Report Stage in the Lords we were able to secure significant commitments from the UK Government in response to the amendments lodged by Baroness Lister and supported by Lord Archy Kirkwood and the Lord Bishop of Rippon and Leeds, on behalf of our organisations.

UK Government plans for child maintenance & the Welfare Reform Bill - a briefing for MSPs on the Scottish Government debate on welfare reform.

This Briefing summarises some of the key measures included in the Welfare Reform Bill 2011 which will impact on Scottish lone parents & their children. It was issued to Members of the Scottish Parliament to brief them before the debate on the Welfare Reform Bill held on Wednesday 5th October.

OPFS along with Action for Children, Barnados, and Children in Scotland have been lobbying for an amendment to the current UK Parliament's Welfare Reform Bill.

A clearer picture is beginning to emerge about the full scope of change being introduced to the benefit and tax credit systems. Most of the changes are designed to save money for the Treasury but the reality for many lone parent families will be less disposable income in the foreseeable future.

One Parent Families Scotland has genuine concerns over the government's proposal to introduce charges for its child maintenance calculation and collection service.

The lone parent agenda is central to the UK government’s strategies on implementing welfare to work, increasing the employment rate and reducing child poverty. In the belief that the route out of poverty is through work, the Government has committed to increasing the employment rate of lone parents to 70 per cent, thus contributing to halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020.

Anti-poverty campaigners are today telling UK Ministers that their proposed Welfare Reform Bill will penalise parents in Scotland and risk plunging more Scottish children into poverty.

Over the next 3 years a total of 25,000 lone parents in Scotland will be affected by agreed changes in Welfare Benefits. The rationale for the changes is to tackle child poverty through engaging more lone parents in employment. However, we are concerned as to whether the infrastructure in Scotland that will be needed to support lone parents into employment is going to be adequate for the task.

"No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility," published 21 July 2008, is a very
significant consultation on the future of welfare. The Green Paper sets out "plans for improving
support and work incentives to create a system that rewards responsibility."