Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2014, Official Report, column 366W, on separated people: finance, whether the effectiveness of the seven projects granted £6.5 million of funding in April 2013 under the Help and Support for Separated Families initiative will be independently evaluated; and whether such evaluations will allow for comparisons between those projects.

We are in the process of appointing external specialists to evaluate independently all 17 Innovation Fund projects. Consistent measures will be used across the projects where possible. However, direct comparison between projects is unlikely as the projects vary considerably both in terms of their innovative and diverse approaches and their target groups.