THOUSANDS of families in Bracknell could be hit hard by cuts to tax credits coming into force next April.

Unison, the workers' union for people providing public services, say the 3,500 families in Bracknell currently receiving tax credits to help bolster their income will be 'worse off' when the changes come into effect in six months time. 

Families in the Bracknell constituency receive an average of £6,270 every year in tax credits, helping supplement those on low incomes, with 6,500 children due to be caught up in the cuts forwarded by Chancellor George Osborne at a vote in parliament on September 15.

Dr Phillip Lee, Bracknell's Tory MP since 2010, was among the 325 MPs who voted in favour of the cuts. 

Prime Minister David Cameron defended the cuts at Prime Minister's Questions today and warned the House of Lords against any attempt to thwart the policy.

Labour councillor Mary Temperton said: "Many of our families are going to be hit badly by these tax credit cuts. For some, decisions will have to be made whether to buy food or pay their rent or the heating. If rent arrears occur as a result then the family could be evicted.

"If they are evicted because they are in rent arrears they could be considered to have made themselves deliberately homeless by 'deciding’ not to pay their rent. The Council could then refuse to acknowledge them as homeless – so where will they go then? Evictions will certainly rise.

"I do not agree with this decision to cut tax credits. Why is the answer always to hit those needing most support? Why are the firms who are not paying their taxes not a priority?"

The changes could see more than three million families across the country lose an average of £1,000 of support a year as the threshold for reducing the amount a family receives in tax credits drops from £6,420 to £3,850 while the rate at which it will drop has increased from 41p to 48p in every pound. 

However the government has said the introduction of a national living wage will lessen dependence on tax credits, meaning fewer people will feel the effect of the £4.4bn worth of cuts. 

The general secretary of Unison, Dave Prentis, the group behind the research, said: "The government is on the back foot over tax credits and ministers know it. They keep saying that families will be better off, but figures published by the House of Commons Library, and a host of other organisations, tell a very different story.

"The government should either come clean and admit that many working households across the UK will be worse off, or publish the details behind its claims and prove everyone else wrong."

Dr Phillip Lee did not respond to the New's request for comment.