A UNIQUE new project is aiming to make it easier for lone parents to get back into work in Chesham.

The scheme, called Families Plus, allows single mums and dads to get help to look for work at a medical centre rather than a Jobcentre.

Buckinghamshire County Council has linked with several other organisations to set up the initiative, which it believes could be the first of its kind in the UK.

Under the new system, suitable claimants can attend the Chess Medical Centre in Berkhampstead Road, where they can access a range of services under the same roof.

Staff from the Department for Work and Pensions will be present to help people to look for work, along with family support staff from BCC and NHS health professionals.

It means parents can get income support and job advice in the same place they can access health services.

Mike Appleyard, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education and Skills at the Council, said: "Clearly lone parents are a vulnerable group who can get stuck on benefits for a number of years, so we are working to remove barriers for them.

"Many want to move into work but face a lot of difficulties. A medical centre is a child-friendly environment that will make it easier for DWP staff to help lone parents."

The project has been funded by BCC, with operational costs at the site running at around £80, 000 per year.

However Angela Macpherson, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services at the Council, said the project would help save taxpayers money.

She said: "If single parents are welfare dependant, the chances for the children are very poor. For every family we intervene with, there are multiple benefits – especially in terms of health and education.

"We are not just supporting the parent to find work but are supporting the child as well, getting them to use the children’s centre and get their immunisations up to date. This project should result in us catching children at an earlier age for speech and language difficulties."

Families Plus is part of the Chesham Wellbeing Project which is focusing on some of the medium term problems in Chesham, such as unemployment, with the aims of improving the wellbeing of Chesham’s residents and applying the lessons learned to other towns in the county.