A special tax credit for families with newborn children has been taken up by only a fifth of those eligible, according to the Conservatives.

The �20-a-year baby credit was announced by Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2001, but did not come into force until April last year.

Millions of hard working families dislike Gordon Brown's complicated and intrusive tax credits David Willetts Shadow work secretary

The government says much needs to be done to promote such credits, but stresses the payment has only been in force for nine months.

Ministers have also fended off Tory claims that they are not doing enough to stamp out benefits fraud.

Shadow work and pensions secretary David Willetts labelled the 17% take-up of the baby tax credit "catastrophic".

Targets needed

Mr Willetts claimed that figure was the worst take-up of any benefit or tax credit since records began.

He blamed the chancellor for introducing a benefits system which was too complicated and intrusive.

"Gordon Brown must now start listening to his own cabinet colleagues who have warned that the tax credits are failing," said Mr Willetts.

"He should set some tough targets for the new tax credits due in April 2003."

The Tories say 85,000 families have applied for the credit, compared to the 500,000 Mr Brown had suggested could benefit.

Malcolm Wicks says progress is being made against fraud

Work and Pensions Minister Malcolm Wicks argued tax credits were one of the ways the government was helping to make work pay.

The baby credit had only been running for nine months, he stressed.

Mr Wicks continued: "Take-up needs to be increased and there is always an issue about how we improve take-up of these kinds of benefits.

"But we have got 85,000 families now getting the baby tax credit who did not get it when it did not exist."

The Tories are also arguing plans for a crackdown on people trying to fiddle the benefits system more than once have never been implemented.

The Department of Work and Pensions could not say how many young people's benefits were docked or stopped under powers introduced in 2000 - because the information had never been collected.

Mr Willetts told BBC Radio 4's World At One it was dangerous to herald crackdowns and not follow them through.

That meant people on benefits knew ministers were able to call their bluff.

Only 0.2% of people on the New Deal have suffered any penalties for not complying with its terms, he said.

Turning the tide

But Mr Wicks said the crackdown plans had only been in place since April.

And it was unlikely anybody would have been caught twice trying to cheat the system since the crackdown's introduction.

Mr Wicks accused Mr Willetts of being selective in his use of statistics.

"There's too much fraud in the system, but we are beginning to turn the tide against the fraudster on the two main benefits - income support and jobseekers allowance," he said.

For those two benefits, fraud was down 24% since 1997, saying the taxpayer �230m, added Mr Wicks.