Clegg admits flaws in child benefit plans
Neil Puffett
Monday, March 5, 2012
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has confirmed that the government is considering altering the detail of its plans to take child benefit away from higher earners.
Under current proposals, from January 2013 a family with a single earner on more than £42,475 would lose their child benefit, although a couple who each earn slightly below this amount, totalling as much as £80,000, would keep the benefit.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Clegg said: "What you do when you create these cut-offs is you create some sort of anomalies.
"There’s a specific issue about how you administer the removal of child benefit from upper-rate earners and we’ve always said we will look at exactly the way that is administered."
The changes, in their current form, would affect around 15 per cent of UK families, with parents set to lose £1,055 a year if they have one child.
In January Chancellor George Osborne said there would be no reversal on the policy.
The Daily Telegraph has reported that the cut-off point may be raised to £50,000, but Clegg said a decision is yet to be taken, suggesting details will be announced in the Budget on 21 March.
