The petition of residents of the Wakefield constituency,
Declares that the petitioners are strongly opposed to the Government’s proposed cuts to tax credits which will cost working families up to £1,300 a year.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons reconsiders the proposals and stop the tax credit cuts.
And the petitioners remain, etc.
[P001666]
Observations from the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Damian Hinds):
The Government thank the residents of Wakefield constituency for their petition on proposals to cut tax credits as announced at Budget 2015. The Government are sorry to hear about their concerns about these changes.
The Government are committed to moving Britain from a low wage, high tax, high welfare economy to a higher wage, lower tax and lower welfare society.
As the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, the Government have listened to concerns about the proposed changes to the tax credit taper rate and the income threshold and confirmed those changes will not go ahead.
The Government remain committed to putting welfare spending on a more sustainable path to make the system fair for those who pay for it as well as those who benefit from it, and to ensure it always pays more to be in work, as announced in the Summer Budget and reiterated in the Autumn Statement. We have therefore continued with other measures such as the tax credits income rise disregard, the amount by which a tax credit claimant’s income can increase within the year before their tax credit award is adjusted, reducing it from £5,000 to £2,500. This makes the tax credit system fairer so claimants on similar incomes will receive similar awards.
The Government continue to help working families keep more of what they earn. The new National Living Wage has been introduced at £7.20 for workers aged 25 and older—a cash increase of £900 for a full time worker on the current National Minimum Wage. The Personal Allowance was increased again in April to £11,000, meaning the average taxpayer now pays £905 less income tax then in 2010. Fuel duty has been frozen again for the sixth year in a row. And the Personal Savings Allowance has been introduced so the majority of people will now pay no tax at all on their savings income.