Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Iain Duncan Smith and Jeremy Lefroy

Monday 2nd November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I absolutely agree, and as I have said, the benefit cap is working. We are changing the levels at which that cap is set to improve it and to make it work further around the country. In my hon. Friend’s area, the east midlands, the number of workless households has fallen by 68,000 under this Government—households that are now benefiting from that return to work.

[Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)]

12. What steps he has taken to ensure that his Department's policies promote family stability.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr Iain Duncan Smith)]

Family stability is at the heart of this Government because it creates better outcomes for children and society. We have taken a number of steps to promote family stability, including the family test, investing more than £8 million in relationship support, introducing the marriage tax allowance, and increasing childcare support to promote work as the best foundation for family stability.

[Jeremy Lefroy]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s answer. The cost of relationship and family breakdown has been estimated at some £47 billion a year. I welcome the support for relationship advice, but I ask the Secretary of State to do more on that and to help turn around the lives of troubled families.

[Mr Duncan Smith]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend. He has made support for families an important issue, and I have talked to him on a number of occasions. I believe that the troubled families programme is critical in supporting families with multiple and often highly complex problems to turn their lives around. Between 2013 and 2015, the DWP created 150 troubled families employment advisers to support people, and 116,000 families have been turned around with nearly 12,000 adults moved into continuous employment. I hope that helps my hon. Friend to understand that the Government are serious about this issue.