MINISTERS should rethink or delay plans to force lone parents, disabled people and the long-term jobless to seek work, a senior government adviser has warned.
But James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, has over-ruled the findings of a report that said the boot camp approach to forcing single parents and those on incapacity benefit back to work would backfire in a recession.
Under the welfare t
o work programme, benefits would be cut if recipients could not prove they were doing all they could to find jobs.
The plans will put pressure on single parents who have children aged 12 and over to get back to work. At present lone parents can claim benefits until their youngest child is 16 but under the new rules they will only be able to claim Jobseekers Allowance if they are actively looking for work.
While their total income will remain broadly the same, they face benefit cuts of up to 40 per cent if they do not show they are trying to find work.
Sir Richard Tilt, chairman of the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC), said ministers should reconsider the plans which risked "falling into disrepute".
He said the reforms could push people "much closer to poverty" and that there was a lack of affordable child care to meet the needs of lone parents.
"Of course, the child will suffer, but it's not the child that has fallen foul of the system," he said.
Putting pressure on lone parents to go back to work could "be harmful and lead to further behavioural problems" for their children, he said.
Unemployment is expected to rise to three million by 2010, and unions and disability charities have urged the government to delay implementing the policy.
Mr Purnell rejected calls for a rethink and insisted the reforms would help people, not penalise them.
"I think it would be wrong, at a time when it may be harder for people to find work, to provide them with less help," he said. "We know that our help works. We know that the help they get from the voluntary sector, from providers and from JobCentre Plus works; it changes lives."
He said the long-term unemployed who had taken up the help had asked why he did not make them do this earlier.
He was backed by the Conservatives. Chris Grayling, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said the changes were essential.
"It would be disastrous for Britain to do a U-turn on welfare reform," he said.
However the SNP's welfare spokesman, John Mason, said the proposals were ill thought out.
"The recession has only magnified this. While measures to support people getting back into work are welcome, these proposals are too draconian.
"It's time for the UK government to return to the drawing board," he said.
• A report by the Prince's Trust and University of Sheffield, released today, warns that young people will be hardest hit by unemployment.
Researchers predicted that at least two in five jobless people will be under the age of 25 if unemployment reaches three million, as business groups and analysts predict.
The full article contains 529 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
