A two-child limit on childcare benefits will be lifted by next April to help poorer families into work, The i Paper can reveal.
Families on universal credit can claim back 85 per cent of their childcare costs while they work – but the amount is currently capped at £1,071 for one child or £1,836 per month for two or more children.
The change means families will get an extra £736 for each additional child.
Why up to 20 maternity units in England may close
Smaller maternity units delivering 1,500-2,000 babies a year are becoming less feasible because of a lack of obstetricians and a sharp rise in C-sections.
What you need to know
- Matthew Hopkins, acute care director at NHS Alliance, said the current system is “not fit for purpose”.
- As many as 20 of England’s 155 NHS maternity units could shut, he told .
- Some smaller units struggled to maintain safe staffing numbers.
- Units in rural and coastal areas are most at risk.
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Politicians urged to make change
Hopkins said: “Difficult decisions lie ahead, consolidating maternity services to support safer, more sustainable care.”
“If politicians … are keen to see safe maternity services in their area, it is going to need courage to grasp the nettle that needs to be grasped in order to improve maternity services,” he added.
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The other side of the argument
Hannah Leonard, the chief policy officer of the Royal College of Midwives, disagreed with the call to close smaller units.
“Women and families rely on local maternity units to be there when they need them, and we must ensure there are high-quality services close to home,” she said.
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Why Putin’s shadow fleet now poses greater danger to UK
“Spoofing” strategies are being deployed by Moscow for ships that frequently transit the Channel and Britain’s coast – some of which are known to carry weapons.
How are they doing this?
- New analysis suggests Russia is deepening its manipulation of the automatic identification system (AIS).
- Russia is equipping its vessels with technology which interferes with the AIS system to make it look like the same ship is in two places – often hundreds of miles apart – at the same time.
- New analysis by Ollie Ballinger from UCL showed at least a dozen “shadow fleet” vessels – all but one sailing under a Russian flag – have used a version of the technique in recent weeks.
What other spoofing techniques are being deployed?
The growth in another technique, known as an AIS “handshake”, was revealed by The i Paper last month.
A shadow fleet tanker sails close to another vessel and swaps AIS credentials. The tanker continues its journey while appearing to trackers as the fishing boat.
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What is the risk to the UK?
Any interference with the AIS system represents a significant navigation risk. In a report earlier this year, the Royal Institute of Navigation said such activity presents “a significant cyber security vulnerability and urgent risks to maritime safety”.
There are also fears that shadow tankers are being equipped with weapons or used as launch pads for surveillance drones.
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Australian MP critical after being ‘deliberately’ hit by truck
Independent MP Helen Haines, 65, was hit by an SUV near her office in Wangaratta, Victoria, on Monday at 3.35pm local time.
What you need to know
Haines was hit by a Toyota SUV while was unloading the boot of her car.
She was critically injured and has been airlifted to hospital.
Victoria Police said officers are investigating if the incident was “intentional”. A member of the public detained a 43-year-old man at the scene, it said.
‘A thoroughly decent human being’
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Haines as “incredibly hardworking, she is fiercely intelligent, but most importantly she is a thoroughly decent human being – full of integrity and is respected right across parliament”.
Federal opposition leader Angus Taylor said: “This is a shocking day for our nation.”
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In the last Budget, the Government announced it would increase this support for larger families – but the timeline had not been confirmed.
The uplift will happen before the end of the 2026-27 financial year “subject to the necessary delivery and legislative changes”, according to a Government source.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson told The i Paper: “By the end of this financial year, universal credit childcare support will change so larger families are not penalised for moving into work.”
Ruth Talbot, senior policy and research manager at the Save the Children charity, said parents with three young children face nursery costs that are “way beyond” the limit if they get a job.
She said: “It will make a huge difference to those who are already claiming universal credit but just can’t claim as much as they need and are struggling.
“But it also means people who aren’t using universal credit childcare because they can’t work because of the childcare costs now may feel that employment is a possibility for them.”
However, she called on the Government to go further and address other barriers in the system, such as the need for families to pay for childcare costs upfront before they can claim back support.
Parents are putting nursery fees on credit cards or simply unable to use the scheme due to a lack of funds, according to a report by the Early Education and Childcare Coalition and the London School of Economics shared with The i Paper. Others reported months-long delays affecting their claims.
A “cliff edge” in the system also means families who earn enough to come off universal credit face a steep drop in childcare support, from 85 per cent of their costs covered to 20 per cent on the tax-free childcare scheme.
The research recommended replacing the universal credit scheme and the other childcare support for working parents with a single offer that would cover all fees for the poorest households.
Such a scheme could be gradually withdrawn as incomes rise and remove the need for upfront payments without increasing costs for taxpayers, the experts said.
“Many people don’t take up the universal credit childcare element because either they don’t know about it or because the way it’s administered is very stressful,” Talbot said.
Sarah Ronan, executive director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, which represents more than 30 sector groups, said the increase to the two-child cap will “provide immediate relief” for larger families at a “really critical time of rising costs”.
“The increase in the cap does need to happen straight away to provide more relief and support to parents, but that doesn’t address the fundamental design flaws in the system around paying for costs upfront, which are really prohibitive if you’re trying to get back into work,” she warned.
Some parents can get money from the “flexible support fund” to pay upfront costs of up to one month of childcare, but Ronan said it is “discretionary” and “not guaranteed”.
She said: “There is a whole issue around how that is communicated to parents and the discretion of job coaches in job centres as well, and whether they actually know about it and can offer that as an option and a service.”
She added that most parents they have spoken to “haven’t even heard of the flexible support fund”.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said they are “determined to break down the barriers that prevent people from returning to work, ensuring families can access the childcare support they need to build financial security”.
They said the Government has extended support for those returning from parental leave and through the flexible support fund.
Have you been affected by issues in this article? We’d love to hear from you – please email alexa.phillips@theipaper.com