The Board of Deputies has called on the Government to reconsider limiting child tax credits to the first two children in a family.

Earlier this year the Chancellor announced that from April support provided through Child Tax Credit will be limited to two children, so that any subsequent children born after that point will not be eligible for further support. The change will apply to new claimants.

Gillian Merron, chief executive of the Board, has written to the Department of Work & Pensions together with Chaya Spitz, chief executive of The Interlink Foundation, a Stamford Hill-based Charedi charity.

They argue that the benefit cut will adversely affect larger families.

The letter states: “By every measure, parents in these households will be unable to meet the basic needs of their children.

“They will be trapped at an income level that is inadequate by a wide margin to meet their children’s needs. This runs completely counter to the Government’s stated intentions of ensuring that those who are in work are rewarded fairly, and is particularly inhumane.”

A spokesman for the Department of Work & Pensions said: “Our welfare reforms are restoring fairness to the system for those who use it and those who pay for it.

"This reform ensures people on benefits have the same choices as those supporting themselves solely through work. But we have always been clear that exemptions will be in place, which is why we are consulting so they can be delivered in the most effective, compassionate way possible."