The social arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has welcomed the House of Lords vote to exclude child benefit from the proposed household benefit cap, calling it “vital to protect children facing poverty.”

The amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill, tabled by the (Anglican) Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, was carried by 252 votes to 237, mainly as result of Lib-Dem peers siding with Labour and the bishops. The Bishop said that it should be possible to exclude child benefit without undermining the overall cap on welfare benefits cap. 

In a letter published in the Times last week Archbishop Peter Smith echoed warnings from Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) that families could struggle to pay for basic essentials or risk losing their homes as a result of the benefit cap. A number of church charities have to

On the eve of Monday's vote, the Archbishop joined other faith leaders from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities in a further statement, emphasising that the cap will principally affect children and could leave tens of thousands homeless.

“We are pleased that the House of Lords has voted in favour of this very sensible amendment, CSAN said. "Excluding Child Benefit from the cap will allow a degree of flexibility in recognition of children’s basic needs, and will mitigate the impact on some of the poorest and most vulnerable families in our society."

The Churches' stance has been heavily criticized in today's press. "When will those hand-wringing bishops and Left-leaning peers consider those who pay for these lavish handouts?" ran the Daily Mail's leader column. In its editorial, The Times said bishops "have managed to avoid both economic reality and popular opinion at the same time."