13 November 2009 – More families will be lifted out of poverty as landmark Welfare Reform Act gets Royal Assent
More people will be helped into work, and more families lifted out of poverty as the radical Welfare Reform Act was given Royal Assent. It sets out the rights and responsibilities of people claiming out-of-work benefits, increases the rights of disabled people to take control of their lives, and boosts the rights of children and parents.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper said:
"This Act will help get more people into work and more families out of poverty too.
"It makes clear that almost everyone should be on a journey to work - either looking for work now or preparing for work in the future. It will mean more support for people who face difficulties getting jobs but also greater responsibilities on people to take up that help".
Key measures of the Welfare Reform Act 2009 include:
- It set outs a framework which will see virtually everyone on benefits on a journey back to work unless they are carers, severely disabled or have very young children. Helping people into employment is the best way to lift families out of poverty.
- Lone parents with younger children will be given the flexibility they need to prepare for work in the future and move closer to the job market. There will be no requirements where the youngest child is under one; until age three the requirement will be to attend a periodic interview at the jobcentre; from three to six there will be a requirement - piloted first - to take part in training or other preparatory activities that fit within available childcare; and from seven there will be a requirement to look for work, but limited to school hours until the youngest child leaves primary school
- People who have been unemployed long-term will be required to take part in Work for Your Benefits, a programme of full-time work experience with additional employment support
- Pilot an approach in which problem heroin and crack cocaine users on JSA and ESA will, in order to receive their benefit, be required to sign up to a drug rehabilitation plan outlining how they will engage with the support available to help them overcome their dependency
- Trailblazer areas will test a new right for disabled people to control how public resources are used to meet their needs
- To reinforce the rights of both children and parents, child maintenance enforcement powers will be enhanced, and in England and Wales both parents will be required to register the birth of a child
Royal Assent was given on 12 November 2009.
Notes to Editors
The Green Paper ‘No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility’ was a wide ranging consultation on the future of welfare.
The White Paper ‘Raising expectations and increasing support: reforming welfare for the future’ was published on 10 December 2008. It set out in detail the plan for the future as part of our vision for a personalised welfare state, where more support is matched by higher expectations for all.
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