Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending (a) child benefit and (b) tax credits.

The Government is committed to helping families through the unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. That is why at Budget 2020, and in the Chancellor’s announcement on 20 March, we committed to a targeted, multi-billion-pound package of support for families this year.

We have announced measures that can be quickly and effectively operationalised, and that benefit as many disadvantaged families as possible. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs are experiencing significant increased demand and the Government must prioritise both implementing the changes we have already announced and the safety and stability of the benefits system overall.

The measures announced on 20 March include a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, a relaxation of earnings rules for self-employed Universal Credit claimants, and an increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants to the 30^th percentile of market rents.

This is in addition to measures announced at Budget, which included widening the scope of Statutory Sick Pay and making accessing benefits easier for those most affected by Covid-19. The Budget also announced that the Government will provide Local Authorities in England with £500 million of new grant funding to support economically vulnerable people and households in their local area.

Whilst we keep measures under review as we analyse the impact of Covid-19 on vulnerable groups, we do not plan on making any further changes as we must focus all our efforts on delivering this package.