Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of families that would be affected, over the next five years, by the Child Tax Credits (Amendment) Regulations 2017 whereby a child or qualifying young person born before 6 April 2017 who is taken into a household as a result of a kinship care arrangement, will not be disregarded for the purposes of the two child limit if the claimant or joint claimants subsequently have a third child of their own born on or after 6 April 2017; and what is the anticipated saving to the public purse of such a change.

From 6 April 2017 families will no longer be able to claim additional support of up to £2,780 per child per year for third and subsequent children born on or after this date through Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit. All households should think carefully about whether they are financially prepared to support a new child without relying on means-tested benefits.

There will be no cash losers as a result of the Government’s policy to limit support to two children in Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit.

We recognise that some claimants are not able to make the same choices as others about the number of children in their family. We have been clear that for third and subsequent children there will be exceptions for certain groups.

The forecast savings from the policy to limit support to two children in Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit were updated at the Spring Budget 2017. The cost to the public purse of the exceptions were also outlined in the Spring Budget 2017.