PMQs: Child benefit changes to be made ‘sensitively’

THE coalition will look at a “pragmatic way” of implementing changes to child benefit “in a sensitive manner”, the Deputy Prime Minister has said.

Nick Clegg made the comments as he stood in for David Cameron at Prime Minister’s questions in the Commons yesterday.

The government faced questions from one of its own backbenchers on whether proposed alterations to child benefit were “fair”.

Conservative Douglas Carswell, MP for Clacton, said: “Changes to child benefit will mean that a single income family earning £43,000 a year where one parent stays at home to care for the children will subsidise a couple earning over £80,000. Does the Deputy Prime Minister think that this is fair?”

Mr Clegg acknowledged the cut-off point could create “anomalies” and “cliff edges”.

He said: “I think it is fair that someone who is earning far, far, far beyond the average should not be subsidised in receiving child benefit from people on much lower incomes.

“He does raise a perfectly valid point, which is that the cut-off point can create these anomalies, these cliff edges, where as he said you can have one earner on £43,000 having their child benefit removed, while two earners who are earning £80,000 will not, and we’ve all said that we will look at a pragmatic way of implementing this in a sensitive manner.”

Chancellor George Osborne announced at the 2010 Conservative Party conference that from January 2013, couples with at least one parent earning more than £42,745 a year – the 40 per cent tax rate threshold – would lose their payments, saving the Treasury around £1 billion.

Details of how the change will be introduced are expected in the Budget on next week.