Adviser calls for delay to welfare reform plans

LONDON (Reuters) - Plans to get more single parents, disabled people and long term unemployed into work should be delayed, a government adviser said on Friday.

Richard Tilt, head of an independent body which advises the government on social security matters, told the BBC that changes due to come in later this month should be postponed because of the economic downturn.

Under the reforms, single parents whose youngest child has reached the age of 12 would be expected to look for a job or risk having their benefits cut.

Tilt, chairman of the Social Security Advisory Committee, said this could push some people into poverty, the BBC reported.

"What we're saying is that it would be prudent to look at some of these reforms in the light of quite dramatically changed circumstances just to see whether some of them might go at a slower pace or some might be deferred for a couple of years while we see what happens," Tilt said.

Tilt was also concerned that a lack of childcare provision was still a major cause for concern, making it hard for lone parents seek a job.

Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell said the reforms were not designed to force single parents into work.

"We will be flexible. If something doesn't fit with a parents' child school hours we won't make them take up that job," he told the BBC. "We want to find a job that is appropriate for people."

The Conservatives also rejected Tilt's call and said not going ahead with the reforms would be disastrous.