Make Father’s Day a Real Benefit, Put the Child First

That the Parliament notes the concerns of Barnardo’s Scotland and other organisations working with young people that, as families celebrate Father’s Day, the UK Government plans to entirely cut housing benefit to young people under 21; considers that this change will have a particular impact on vulnerable fathers who already lack support from the welfare system; understands that, since 2012, single people under the age of 35 have been restricted to claiming benefits only for a single room in a shared house, with no exemption for what Barnardo’s estimates at around 10,000 non-resident parents across the UK; agrees with Barnardo’s that the new measures risk driving some dads back into unstable family homes, where they may have witnessed violence and substance abuse, which would further jeopardise their chances of hosting children and that other young dads may be driven to homelessness, encouraging them to lose contact with children altogether; calls on the UK Government to urgently review benefits rules by "putting the child first" to make sure that parents, including separated parents, of every age are supported to maintain a quality, independent relationship with their children, and believes that all parents should be exempt from any planned cuts to housing benefit for young people, regardless of whether their children live with them full time or not.