Image source, Engender

From the Engender website, external:

"Engender is Scotland’s feminist organisation.

"Engender has a vision for a Scotland in which women and men have equal opportunities in life, equal access to resources and power, and are equally safe and secure from harm."

Read Engender's submission to the committee here, external.

Engender executive director Emma Ritch says women are deeply concerned by the two child limit and are "extremely horrified by the 'rape clause'".

Ms Ritch highlights the letter sent to Damian Hinds.

Image source, Scottish Women's Aid

From the Scottish Women's Aid website, external:

Our vision

"We believe that a world without domestic abuse is not just a dream, it is a possibility. Never doubt it – changing attitudes changes lives."

Our mission

"The Women’s Aid network supports women, children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse across Scotland - from Shetland to the Borders and across a range of services.

"We believe that nobody should live in fear, whatever their community. Scottish Women’s Aid is pleased to support our groups and our ultimate aim is to make everyone safer.

"We work to achieve effective responses to domestic abuse – and we work to end violence against women by tackling its root cause, which is gender inequality."

Read Scottish Women's Aid's submission to the committee here, external.

Jo Ozga from Scottish Women's Aid highlights the impact of the cuts on women.

Ms Ozga says the two child limit will further impoverish women and affect their ability to leave an abusive partner.

Image source, Citizens Advice Scotland

From the Citizens Advice Scotland website: , external

"Citizens Advice Scotland, our 61 member bureaux and our consumer helpline together form Scotland’s largest independent advice network.

"We help more than 300,000 people solve their problems each year in communities everywhere from city centres to the Highlands and Islands.

"And we look at the problems people bring to our advice services and campaign for change where it’s needed most.

"We work for a fairer Scotland where people are empowered and their rights respected."

Read the Citizens Advice Scotland submission to the committee here., external

Rob Gowans from Citizens Advice Scotland says child tax credits is one of the most common things people will seek advice on.

Mr Gowans says as it has only been six weeks and it only affects chldren born after the sixth of April there has not been a huge spike yet.

The Social Security Committee , externalwill now take evidence on two child limit in tax credits and universal credit:

Committee convener Sandra White gets us underway by saying the minute's silence at 11am to show resepect for the victims of the Manchester attack.

Ms White introduces the witnesses:

• Rob Gowans from Citizens Advice Scotland, external
• Engender , externalexecutive director Emma Ritch
• Jo Ozga from Scottish Women’s Aid, external

Child Benefit, external, which is separate, will be unaffected.

The latest official figures, external show that 872,000 families with more than two children were claiming tax credits in 2014-15.

And a similar number of families are likely to lose out under the changes, the researchers suggest.

In 2014-15, two thirds (65%) were working families and 68% had no more than three children, say the researchers.

Based on those figures, the researchers calculate that once the new policy is fully implemented an additional 100,000 adults and 200,000 children could face poverty.

The changes affect families who claim tax credits and Universal Credit - which is in the process of being rolled out and is due to replace tax credits completely by 2022.

The new rules mean that children born after Thursday 6 April into families where there are already two or more children will no longer be counted in benefit payments to their parents, under either tax credits or Universal Credit.

Image source, Getty images

And from autumn 2018, families making new claims under Universal Credit will only receive payments for their first two children even if they were born before Thursday.

However, children already receiving Universal Credit or tax credit payments will not lose them for as long as their family's existing claim continues.

And Child Benefit, external, which is separate, will be unaffected.

Image source, bbc

Changes to benefit rules coming into force this week could push 200,000 more children into poverty,campaigners said in April.

Payments for some benefits are now limited to the first two children in a family.

The Child Poverty Action Group and Institute for Public Policy Research say some families will be almost £3,000 a year worse off under the new rules.

Ministers say they are determined to tackle the root causes of disadvantage and make work pay.

Read more here.

Image source, HMRC

The government requires a form to be filled in which is a declaration by the claimant and by the third-party professional, external that the terms of the exemption have been met.

The HMRC website states: "You'll need to complete the non-consensual conception form with the help of an approved third-party professional", external. It says: "You don't have speak to, or give details about the circumstances of the conception to HMRC staff."

The interpretation of this requirement has caused dispute, with Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson hitting out at the "misinformation" about the changes, saying women would not have to fill out a form saying they had been raped.

She said: "They don't have to speak to the DWP, they don't have to declare that they have gone to the police, they don't have to have a medical intervention.

"All they have to do is write their name and someone who is either a healthcare worker or a social worker does everything else for them."

However, Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison said she had "grave concerns that there was no suitable infrastructure or training to support the implementation of the policy".

During her interview at the Women in the World summit in New York, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the 'rape clause' was a "disgusting and disgraceful policy".

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said she supported the exemptions placed on restrictions to child tax credits and wanted to see them implemented in the "most compassionate" way possible.

Green MSP Ross Greer slammed the Scottish Conservative leader during the debate on the 'rape clause', saying: "When you cut through the tank-riding, bagpipe-playing bravado, Ruth Davidson is just another cruel member of a cruel party."

Lib Dem Alex Cole-Hamilton said the "abhorrent policy" would have been in the statute book years earlier had his party not blocked it previously.

The UK Tory government insists its system will ensure women who had a child through rape are not denied tax credits.

That includes allowing an "approved person" to give evidence to HM Revenue and Customs to spare victims the trauma of reliving their ordeal.

Its guidance says: "In developing this requirement, the government has sought to strike a balance between the need to treat such cases with sensitivity and the need to ensure that child tax credit is paid only to persons who are genuinely entitled to it."

A DWP spokeswoman: "We have always been clear this will be delivered in the most effective, compassionate way, with the right exceptions and safeguards in place."

The spokeswoman said that, in cases where victims have accessed support from third parties or charities, the DWP will be notified by these organisations and it will not be investigated.

The spokeswoman was unable to explain how claims would be verified when made by a woman who had never accessed support or told anyone about being raped.

The government added that the policy was debated and voted on in parliament and the exceptions were consulted on widely.

Image source, bbc

The UK government has been accused of forcing victims of rape to endure further trauma, making women "prove" they have been raped to receive child benefits.

A campaign group - Scrap The Rape Clause, external - was set up by SNP MP Alison Thewliss and a petition calling on the government to abandon the plans was signed by 10,000 people.

Ms Thewliss wrote: "I believe that women having to prove that they had been raped to DWP employees in order to receive social security payments is morally wrong and would cause needless additional trauma, as well as being completely unworkable in practice."

Image source, ALISON THEWLISS

The move was announced two years ago by the then Chancellor George Osborne.

The UK government said it wanted to limit child tax credit to the first two children because it wanted "people on benefits to make the same choices as those supporting themselves solely through work".

Exemptions to the changes were announced for those;

• adopting children
• those involved in kinship care
• and for multiple births.

There was also an exception for a child born as a result of "non-consensual conception", external. This is the so-called 'rape clause'.

It states that a woman can claim for a third or subsequent child if it was conceived "as a result of a sexual act which you didn't or couldn't consent to" or "at a time when you were in an abusive relationship, under ongoing control or coercion by the other parent of the child".

A woman cannot claim this exemption if she lives with the other parent of the child.

However, it states she can qualify whether or not there has been a court case or conviction of a criminal offence.

The advice from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is that women affected should get support from women's aid, Victim Support or Rape Crisis.

The DWP said it would operate a "third-party model", external so that women did not have to describe the details to a member of its staff.

Instead, women would talk to healthcare professionals, a social worker or an approved rape charity.

The child tax credit is a benefit to help with the cost of raising a child. Parents and carers might be able to get them if their children are under 16 or, if they are in eligible training, up to the age of 20.

The amount they are given depends on their income, how many children are living with them and their childcare costs.

It can be worth up to £2,780 per year for each child.

Child Tax Credit, external is one of the six benefits that are being phased out and replaced by Universal Credit, external.

The two-child policy will also apply to the new "Child Element" of Universal Credit.

Campaigners have been fighting the measures since they were announced in the Budget in 2015 but they only came into effect on 6 April.

A number of high-profile opposition politicians have rounded on the UK government over the policy and rallies have been held calling for the clause to be scrapped.