A Bill to amend the Child Benefit (Rates) Regulations 2006 to make provision to vary the rate of child benefit over the course of childhood to enable eligible parents to receive a higher rate during a child’s early years and a correspondingly reduced rate when that child is older
House of Lords
31 October 2023
May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.
The Front-loaded Child Benefit Bill would let the government design a system where Child Benefit is paid at a higher rate in a child’s early years and lower in later years. It hands broad design powers to ministers to shape how this front-loading will work, with the exact mechanics left to future regulations rather than fixed in law. The Lords’ committee stage has seen debate about safeguards and practical implementation, with government moving to keep the design flexible and Parliament informed later during regulation-setting.
The bill remains in the Lords Committee stage. Two government amendments were agreed to enable and frame the front-loading design, while several Labour probing amendments were not moved or not decided, leaving key safeguards to be considered later in regulatory design.
Generated 21 February 2026
19 May 2022
8 Jul 2022
2 Dec 2022
Showing agreed, defeated, and withdrawn amendments.
The 2022-2023 session of Parliament has prorogued and this bill will make no further progress.
No recorded votes for this bill yet.
