Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the value of child benefit.

Child Benefit rates were raised in line with inflation in April 2020.

This was alongside the government’s significant package of welfare support in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, which is estimated by the to be worth £8bn this year. This includes: an up-to £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 30th percentile of market rents.