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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Other benefit issues  →  Thread

UC slowdown, CTC and >2 children

HB Anorak
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Benefits consultant/trainer - hbanorak.co.uk, East London

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Damian Green’s statement yesterday says families with more than two children making new benefit claims will be diverted to Tax Credits rather than UC until November 2018.  This is quite a significant slowdown of the two child policy:

- the way I read it s13 of the WR&W Act (CTC) only affects children born from 6/4/17 onwards; it comes into force on 6/4/17
- whereas s14 (UC) limits the UC child element to two children born at any time, with any transitional arrangements left to the commencement order

The s14 commencement order when it appears might limit the effect of s14 in a similar way to s13, but as it stands it is only CTC that has hard-wired transitional protection for children born before 6/4/17, even if their parents don’t claim CTC until after that date.  Did you spot the significance of Nov 2018? That’s about two full term pregnancies after April 2017 - the earliest plausible date on which you could have three children born after 6/4/17 (assuming regs treat multiple births as a single birth).

So if I have read this right, the two child policy isn’t really going to “bite” until the end of 2018.  The small number of existing UC claimants whose circumstances change to bring them within the scope of s14 before then will almost certainly be best advised to give up their UC claim and reclaim CTC ... unless the s14 commencement order contains transitional provisions which save them the bother of course. 

Jon Blackwell
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I was wondering how this is going to work in the non-digital areas which accept claims from families ( incl most of NW England plus other early UC areas)  - will 3-child familes now have to claim CTC instead in those areas as well? - I think the regs for this could get quite complicated.

HB Anorak
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A little tweak to the gateway conditions as modified for pre-2015 areas would prevent families with more than two children from passing through the gateway; but they will also have to amend the digital commencement orders to allow legacy benefit claims and prevent UC claims by such families. I think that’s the trickier bit!

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Information and advice resources - Age UK

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Let’s hope they might decide to kick the quite heinous two child policy into the long grass…..

#notholdingmybreath

HB Anorak
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Benefits consultant/trainer - hbanorak.co.uk, East London

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Did you spot the significance of Nov 2018? That’s about two full term pregnancies after April 2017 - the earliest plausible date on which you could have three children born after 6/4/17…

Just been pointed out to me that my analysis above completely overlooks cases where there already older children.  Need a face-palm smiley for that.  Anyone who already has two or more child elements for older children will get no further standard child elements for any children born from April 2017.  So my comments only apply to people whose children are all born from April 2017 onwards.  Sorry about that.

Advice NI
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Head of policy - Advice NI

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Hi all, thinking about tax credits / UC / transitional protection - Nov 2018 and beyond.

1. For example, where a family move from tax credits to UC (with transitional protection), then there is family breakdown, will the mother with 5 children have to claim UC in own right lose transitional protection and so be hit by 2 child policy. Raises issue of women being forced to remain in abusive relationships as a result of this 2 child policy.

2. Any other change of circs after Nov 2018 (within UC claims) that would lead to lose of transitional protection (for example what if another child is born).

Thoughts most welcome.