§ Mr. WattsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will disregard family allowances in benefit calculations. [51290]
§ Malcolm WicksThere are no plans to disregard child benefit in the calculation of entitlement to income related benefits. Although the Government have not changed the way that entitlement to income support and income based jobseeker's allowance is calculated, low income families have gained substantially from increases in the allowances for children in these benefits. For example, a couple on income support with two children under the age of 11 is £2,000 a year better off in real terms than they would have been in 1997.
Further, as my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced recently, we plan to increase the child allowances in the income related benefits by a further £3.50 per week from October 2002.
In the longer term, the new child tax credit, to be introduced from April 2003 will build on the foundations of the universal child benefit to provide a seamless system of support for low income families. It will replace the children's allowances in income support and income based jobseeker's allowance and these benefits will no longer be affected by payments of child benefit. The child tax credit will, alongside child benefit, provide child support of £54.25 a week for the first child in families with an income of less than £13,000 a year.