The Extended Schools Childcare Pilot, which was run in Aberdeenshire andFife from October 2004 to March 2006 and cost 600,000, aimed toprovide a "virtual childcare guarantee" to help get unemployed loneparents into work.
But the evaluation, which was carried out by York Consulting, showedthat, although 100 lone parents were referred to the pilot via JobcentrePlus, "very few' took up the offer of childcare.
"Only one outcome (lone parent entering work as a result of childcareavailable) can be directly attributed to the pilot," the reportsaid.
The report, Evaluation of the Extended Schools Childcare Pilot, waslaunched by former work and pensions secretary Andrew Smith. It said oneof the reasons for the low take up was scepticism about the use of thetax credit system.
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