Pensions Bill

moved Amendment No. 12: 12: After Clause 3, insert the following new Clause— ““Report on contribution credits The Secretary of State shall present a report annually to the House of Commons on— (a) the number of carers in receipt of contribution credits; (b) the associated costs of contribution credits received by carers to the National Insurance Fund; (c) any proposals he may have for reviewing eligibility for contribution credits.”” The noble Lord said: I will be even briefer with this amendment, to give the noble Lord the opportunity to repeat the assurance that was made by his colleague in another place. It is clear that some tweaking is required to ensure that child benefit and the associated home responsibilities protection and contribution credits go to the correct parent. In the past, most parents—usually the mother—collected their child benefit from their local post office, which meant that the money was instantly available for the child’s needs and was collected by the parent who handled the majority of the childcare. However, now that most benefits are paid by cheque or giro, child benefit is often paid to the parent whose name is at the head of the joint account, generally the one who is earning the main wage and who is not the main child carer. I was struck by the Minister in another place assuring the Committee that the Government’s intention is to allow the parent with care to benefit from child caring credits. Does that extend to child benefit? It jolly well ought to. I beg to move.