PLANS to cap benefits will be implemented ‘in full’ the Government has insisted – despite a stinging Parliamentary defeat that saw a record rebellion among Lib Dem peers.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith wants out-of-work benefit payments limited to £26,000 a year per household, which he claims will save "something in the order" of £600 million towards deficit reduction.

More than 16,000 families in Kirklees get the benefits.

The total of 16,350 families claiming working tax credit and child tax credit accounts for 30% of the total number of families in the area.

In Huddersfield, official studies show that 5,130 families claim both credits.

There are some 5,500 lone-parent families in Huddersfield claiming the benefits, and 15,000 across Kirklees.

But the plans have caused deep unease in the Lords and prompted Church of England bishops to launch a bid for the reforms to be curbed, which was backed by a majority of 15.

Lord Ashdown, a previously loyal supporter of the coalition Government, joined 25 other Lib Dem peers voting for child benefit to be excluded from the cap calculations.

The former party leader said that as president of the United Nations children’s agency Unicef, he was not prepared to back the Government’s plans in their current form, denouncing them as "completely unacceptable".

Despite the divisions in his own ranks however, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said he is fully signed up to the changes.

Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Rt Rev John Packer, who introduced the successful amendment, said: "It cannot be right for the cap to be the same for a childless couple as for a couple with children. Child benefit is the most appropriate way to right this unfairness."

The Government admitted it was "disappointed" by the result but insisted it still intends to push through its plans "in full".

Around 67,000 families will lose £83 a week under the cap, which is due to be brought in from 2013 in England, Scotland and Wales.

Prime Minister David Cameron insisted it was a "basic issue of fairness".

"It’s time to call time on these excessive welfare payouts," he added. "That’s what the benefit cap will do."

ANDI BRIGGS, chief officer of the Deighton and Brackenhall Initiative opposes a £26,000 benefits cap.

He said: "My view generally is that any reduction is going to penalise children in a very severe way because generally these families are living in, or on the poverty line.

"For me, we should really be taking the opportunity to support children and their families to survive and help give them opportunities to get back into work wherever possible."

Mr Briggs said the argument that out-of-work families would be getting the equivalent of a £35,000 wage was ‘oversimplified’.

He said: "I think we’ve got to put it into context and look at individual cases.

"It’s never very easy to make generalisations like that and if you have a family with lots of children they obviously have more out-goings and more mouths to feed.

"I really worry when figures like that are taken out of context and it’s not helpful to stigmatise people.

"Not everyone will be claiming £26,000 and not everyone is entitled to every benefit – it’s a very complex system."

Mr Briggs said other Government cuts to the welfare system are going to hit people hard – including the cuts to Child Tax Credits and Local Housing Allowance.

He said: "It’s not just people who are out of work that are going to be affected, but people in work will also be affected by the raft of cuts coming.

"The whole thing will have a massive impact on many members of the community and a lot of people still don’t realise how badly they will be affected.

"I would encourage anybody who thinks they are going to be affected to seek support."

Kirklees Benefits Advice can be contacted on 01484 223950 / 01924 326010

Or contact Kirklees Citizen’s Advice on 0844 848 7970.

COLNE VALLEY Conservative MP Jason McCartney supports a Government cap on benefits.

He told the Examiner: "I’m very disappointed with the way in which the Lords voted because it’s clearly against public opinion and what’s really happening.

"There has to be a limit on the amount of money that benefit claimants can get.

"The cap at £26,000 means it’s the equivalent of someone going out and earning £35,000 before tax and a lot of working families would be really happy to have that."

Mr McCartney said he met two men from Bingley while he was on the train down to London who reflected public opinion.

He said: "They were both in their 50s and they had re-trained and had just got new jobs and were earning £21,000 a year and they said to me – get down to London and tell them to get that cap on.

"They wanted the cap to be lower – these are hard-working people who pay their taxes."

Mr McCartney denied opposition arguments claiming families with children would suffer from a benefits cap that includes child benefits.

He said: "Those that say it will be a detriment to children are completely off the ball and going down the wrong avenue.

"We could throw the money at poor parents and the money doesn’t necessarily get to the children.

"I know many hard-working families with children, including people in my family who work in local government or in business and they work really hard and they earn less than £35,000.

"I know a family who have four children and they work very hard.

"Labour just think you can throw money at things but that’s why we’re in such an economic mess now. The welfare system needs to be brought under control."