Tax credit changes will hammer 11,200 families in Wandsworth

11,200 families in Battersea and Tooting will lose out under Conservative plans to cut tax credits, with the average working family losing £750 a year, according to the House of Commons Library.

Figures produced by the House of Commons Library show over three million low-income working families currently in receipt of tax credits will see their entitlement reduced, as part of the Government’s proposals.

Despite claims from the Conservatives that those affected will benefit from plans to increase the minimum wage, the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has said Tory figures don’t stack up.

IFS analysis shows a £750 average loss will only be offset by £200 as a result of the new minimum wage.

Unlike Labour, the Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed the move, both in the House of Commons and in the House of Lords. They say that it undermines the work of the last Coalition Government to make sure it always pays more to be in work than on benefits, and to share the costs of cutting the deficit fairly..

Matthew Green, Chair of Battersea and Tooting Liberal Democrats said:

The changes to tax credits are a manifestly unfair way to deal with Britain’s fiscal deficit, at a time when home owners are benefiting from cuts to Inheritance Tax. On the one hand the Conservatives are taxing the very hard-working families they said they would protect. On the other they are letting off people standing to benefit from the lucky windfall of rising property prices.

What makes this even worse is that cuts will affect 15,200 children in our area. This will make it harder for their parents to give them the start in life they deserve. Study after study has shown how important the childhood years are in enabling people to better themselves.

All this shows that the Conservative government is not really interested in improving the chances of the hard-working poor. The just want to knock away the ladder that might allow them to join the better off.

I am pleased that Lib Dems have been opposing this measure. We worked hard in Coalition to ensure that work would always pay more than choosing to remain on benefits. It is a disgrace the Conservatives are now undermining this principle.