Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to introduce a special circumstance dispensation for people from religious minorities in relation to the payment of child benefit for a third or subsequent child.

The exceptions to the policy to limit support to a maximum of two children in Child Tax Credit were debated by the UK Parliament during the passage of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016. The government’s view is that the exceptions legislated for in Child Tax Credit cover the circumstances where parents or carers are not in the same position to make choices about the number of children in their family as others are, or who are fulfilling an important social function in providing homes for children who cannot be looked after by their own parents.

Claimants will still be entitled to an additional amount in Child Tax Credit in respect of any disabled children, regardless of the total number of children in the household.

Child Benefit will also continue to be paid regardless of family size, as the basis of the government’s contribution towards the cost of bringing up a child.