Help for lone parents

NEW DEAL FOR LONE PARENTS
New Deal is a government strategy for getting people back into work. A lone parent, whose youngest child is under 16, and is either not working or is working under 16 hours a week, can get help under the New Deal for Lone Parents scheme. There is access to a Personal Adviser, who will advise what funding is available towards course fees, travel, and childcare. He or she will be there as a contact throughout the whole New Deal programme.
It's their job to:

Get to know a little about the parent so you end up with a job you can enjoy
Calculate how much better off you could be in a job
Discuss with the parent what kind of job you would like to get
Draw up an action plan to help you get that job
Help you look and apply for suitable jobs
Help you find training opportunities
Help you find and organise registered childcare
Help you with expenses that may occur during your job search
Explain which benefits you will be entitled to once you start work
Continue to offer the parent help and advice even after you have found work.

The scheme can helps with childcare costs by:

Offering a subsidy, in some cases, to childcare providers who employ someone on the New Deal scheme (up to £60 a week for six months for a person aged between 18 and 24 and up to £75 for a long-term unemployed person aged 25 or over)
Offering young people the chance to work in the voluntary sector for six months
Providing free full-time education and training for up to a year (up to £750 towards training a young person aged between 18 and 24)
Helping with childcare costs for single parents who want to return to work or take up training courses.

Contact and resources:
Local Jobcentre Plus, call 0800 868 868 or check out the New Deal website for more information and the booklet Bringing up children on your own LP15 revised March 03. This booklet is also available in large print, audio and Braille.

CHILD TAX CREDITS

Child Tax Credit and the childcare element of Working Tax Credit
Tax credits can help families with children or those who need help paying for childcare. Nine out of ten families with children are eligible for the new tax credits. Child Tax Credit is paid into the bank account of the main carer - the person who is mainly responsible for looking after the children. Families on incomes of up to £58,000 a year (or £66,000 a year if there is at least one child who is less than a year old) can benefit from the new Child Tax Credit whether or not they are working. This money acknowledges and supports the costs of bringing up children.

Childcare element of Working Tax Credit
Working Tax Credit is an in-work tax credit for families, and includes an element to support the costs of registered or approved childcare for working parents.

To qualify for support, the childcare must be:

Registered childminders, nurseries, playschemes or out of school clubs
Schools or other establishments that are exempt from registration
Providers of childcare for children aged eight or over, who are approved by accredited organisations
Approved home carers.

To apply for the childcare element of Working Tax Credit:

Lone parents must work at least 16 hours a week
Both members of a couple must work 16 hours a week or more
Or one member of a couple must work 16 hours a week or more and the other member must be incapacitated.

The childcare element will pay up to 80% of eligible childcare costs up to a maximum of:

£140 (80% of £175) per week for one child, and
£240 (80% of £300) per week for two or more children.

The childcare element of Working Tax Credit will be paid into the bank account of the main carer alongside the Child Tax Credit.

Contact and resources:
You can download a local information booklet about Tax Credits by clicking here.

Helplines
The Tax Credit helpline provides information for local authorities and Children's Information Services, and helps parents to complete their claim form or check the progress of their claim.

8.00am - 8.00pm everyday (except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day and Easter Sunday)England, Scotland and Wales 0845 300 3900

For people with hearing or speech difficulties
England, Scotland and Wales 0845 300 3909

Finding out more about childcare
Southampton Children's Information Service will be happy to give you information about finding and choosing high quality childcare that will suit your child. Or click here to search an online database of childcare in Southampton.

This information has been reproduced from the Sure Start unit. This information is available in alternative formats and is free of charge from the ChildcareLink website and ChildcareLink information line:
Freephone and Textphone 08000 960296 Visit www.Childcarelink.gov.uk