04 Jan 2001
Nearly 19,000 Scottish single parent families have had their lives transformed thanks to the New Deal for Lone Parents, Scotland Office Minister Brian Wilson said today.
Commenting on the new statistics released today, which cover the first two years of the New Deal for Lone Parents, Mr Wilson said:
"The New Deal continues to make a significant contribution to the lives of lone parents across Scotland, giving them the chance to learn new skills, build their confidence, meet new people and giving them the opportunity to work.
"A total of 18,950 lone parents in Scotland have attended an initial interview with a New Deal Personal Adviser over the last 2 years. 90 per cent of those interviewed have taken advantage of the help and support offered through the New Deal, giving opportunity to thousands of people who in the past may have felt excluded from the jobs market."
"The latest figures for Scotland show that the New Deal for Lone Parents has delivered:
"New Deal for Lone Parents, along with all our other New Deal initiatives, aims to bring about an end to exclusion from the labour market, including helping those hardest to help by providing specialist advice and support for people finding it difficult to find work."
NOTES FOR NEWS EDITORS
1. Figures to the end of October 2000 show that 6,750 had found work through the programme. The New Deal for Lone Parents was launched in October 1998.
2. The New Deal for Lone Parents is a voluntary programme designed specifically to help those lone parents not in work but in receipt of Income Support.