DWP Central Freedom of Information Team

e-mail: [DWP request email]

Our Ref: VTR919

27 May 2009

Dear Ms Walton

Freedom of Information Request - VTR 919

Thank you for your request, made under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and received on 18 May, asking about the final cost of and initial budget for the 2007 DWP Consultation on moving lone parents off benefits and on to Jobseeker's Allowance.

In July 2007 DWP published the Green Paper “In work, better off: next steps to full employment”. To ensure that the views from a broad a range of people as possible about the proposals were gathered DWP opened a consultation period which ran from 18 July 2007 until 31 October 2007. Amongst the proposals was that lone parents with a youngest child aged 7 or over would no longer be entitled to claim Income Support solely on the grounds of being a lone parent. Instead those able to work may claim Jobseeker's Allowance.

As the proposals on lone parents were only a part of the overall consultation exercise it is not possible to disaggregate the final costs to allocate an amount that could be attributed to the lone parent part of the consultation process.

If you are not satisfied with my handling of your request/reason(s) for not giving you the information please tell me why within two calendar months of the date of this letter. I will then arrange for someone to conduct an internal review of your request and my handling/decision. The review will be conducted by another officer, usually of a more senior grade. This person will have taken no part in my original decision. You will be advised of their decision in writing.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner to look into the way your request has been handled. Please note that generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have first exhausted the Department for Work and Pensions own complaints procedure. The Commissioner can be contacted at:

FoI Complaints Resolution

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Fax: 01625 524 510

email: [email address]”

Yours sincerely,

DWP Central FoI Team