HC Deb 22 May 1991 vol 191 cc536-8W
Miss Emma Nicholson

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what changes are intended in support for less well-off families in 1991–92.

Mr. Scott

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced last October, child benefit rose by £1 a week for the eldest eligible child in each family this April. In addition, as my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer anounced in his Budget statement, child benefit will rise by a further E1 a week for the eldest eligible child in each family in October, with an extra 25p a week for other children. The Government are taking all steps necessary to make sure that families at all income levels will gain from the October increase.

The income support personal allowances for single people under 25 who claim independently will also be increased in line with the children's rates.

These October increases will be in addition to the April uprating of all the income-related benefits.

As my right hon. Friend said in his Budget statement, Government are committed to increasing the new rates of child benefit in line with the movement in the retail price index each year, starting in April 1992. We will announce in the uprating statement the allocation of the individual the amounts between the eldest eligible child and other children.