To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many sanctions were imposed on lone parents claiming income support who had missed their first work focused interview in each quarter since 1997. (123579)

[holding answer 26 February 2007]: Work focused interviews were introduced nationally for some lone parents from April 2001. They were extended in stages to all lone parents making new or repeat claims to Income support, and from April 2004 to all lone parents with an existing claim to income support.

Lone parents making a new or repeat claim for income support are expected to attend a work focused interview before an income support payment is made, unless the interview is deferred or waived. Failure to attend this first interview would result in the claim being disallowed rather than a benefit sanction being imposed. Benefit sanctions are imposed on existing customers who fail to attend their first work focused interview.

Between April 2001 and March 2006, 1.76 million initial lone parent work focused interviews have been booked and, in the same period, 1.62 million initial interviews have been attended, with 39,920 sanctions applied for failure to attend an initial work focused interview.

The number of work focused interviews (WFIs) booked for lone parents in the year to March 2006 was around one and a half times the number booked two years earlier, and over two and a half times the number booked three years before. This has, inevitably, resulted in an increase in the number of sanctions imposed. However, at less than 5 per cent. of the number of interviews booked, this represents a very low proportion of the total.

Information on the number of benefit sanctions imposed on lone parents for failure to attend a first work focused interview, broken down by each quarter, is in the following table.