Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of suspended child benefit payments on (a) Universal Credit and (b) other means-tested benefits.

No assessment has been made.

Child Benefit, administered by His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC), is not taken into account as income when calculating a Universal Credit award or other means-tested benefits. It is used to assess benefit levels for the purpose of determining whether to apply the benefit cap which limits the amount of social security benefits a working age household can receive. The benefit cap is applied through Housing Benefit and Universal Credit.

The Department will continue to work closely with HMRC on all relevant matters.