Abolishing child benefit cap is 'opportunity' for Swinney

The Herald Scotland

7 days ago

Pressure increased this week after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage confirmed his party would abolish the policy, which restricts means-tested benefits to the first two children in a family.
That has led the UK Government to announce it will 'not rule out' abolishing the cap, which was first introduced by the Conservative administration in 2017, but maintained by Labour.
UK Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson also told BBC Breakfast her government was looking at the logistics of scrapping the policy, adding: 'nothing is off the table'.
The Scottish Government intends to mitigate the cap by April 2026 – however if it is scrapped before then, it could save up to £200 million each year.
John Dickie, director of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, told The Herald that would then give First Minister John Swinney the opportunity to eradicate child poverty, which has been defined as his central mission in government.
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The Herald, alongside 23 leading charities, wrote to the Prime Minister calling for the cap to be abolished, and called on Mr Swinney to increase the Scottish Child Payment to £40 per week.
Mr Dickie said: 'Across the UK 109 children a day are being pushed into poverty by the two-child limit alone.
"They and their struggling families need the Westminster government to act fast and decisively to scrap the policy at source. No child poverty strategy that retains this poverty producing policy is credible. It needs to go.
'Here in Scotland the £155 to £200m currently earmarked by the Scottish government to mitigate the policy from next year must then be freed up to help increase the Scottish child payment to the £40 a week that The Herald, children's charities, and anti-poverty campaigners have all called for.
'There is an opportunity here for both governments to make serious inroads into the poverty that continues to hold so many children and families back,' he added.
'Ending the two-child limit and investing in the Scottish Child Payment are the most direct, and cost effective, ways to make progress toward meeting Scotland child poverty targets.'
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It has been estimated by think tank the Resolution Foundation that 470,000 children across the UK would be lifted out of poverty if the benefit cap was removed.
Education Secretary Ms Phillipson, however, said abolishing the limit would be costly.
The UK Government's child poverty strategy, which was due to be published in the spring, has been delayed until the autumn so it can be aligned with Chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget.
Ms Phillipson confirmed the UK Government was 'certainly' looking at removing the cap, with an official spokesman for the Prime Minister later stating: 'We've been very clear that we're not going to rule anything out when it comes to tackling child poverty, and the ministerial task force is considering all available levers to give every child the best start in life as part of our strategy.'
In a move that will only pile the pressure on the UK Government, Mr Farage said on Monday scrapping it was 'the right thing to do' to make life easier for low-paid workers.
The Scottish Government has ruled out increasing the Scottish Child Payment, claiming it would deter parents from entering employment.
Official documents seen by The Herald, however, confirmed the Scottish Government held no evidence on this claim.
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: 'The evidence is clear – the UK Government must do the right thing and scrap the two-child cap in full.
'Tinkering around with piecemeal exemptions and time limits is not going to cut it. Families across the UK have waited long enough for this appalling policy to be scrapped and the Prime Minister has to act now.
'As the Resolution Foundation has noted, ending both the two-child limit and the benefit cap are the bare minimum required for a credible strategy to reduce child poverty.
'That is why the Scottish Government invests to protect people from the benefit cap and has committed to effectively scrapping the impact of the two-child cap in 2026.
'The First Minister has been clear that if the UK Government does the right thing and abolishes the cap, the resources we have committed to this policy will continue to be used on measures to eradicate child poverty in Scotland.'