UK Government urged to lift two-child limit in Budget

The social justice secretary has called on chancellor Rachel Reeves to remove the two-child limit and benefit cap, saying such policies should be “confined to the darkest days of austerity”.

Shirley-Anne Somerville has urged the UK Government to take such action to tackle child poverty in its forthcoming Budget.

She was speaking ahead of a series of meetings in London on Friday with child poverty charities.

Somerville said: “Once again, I am making it clear that the UK Government must fully scrap the two-child limit and the benefit cap as soon as possible. These policies should be confined to the darkest days of austerity and the UK Budget must bring this period to an end.

“In a country as rich as ours, no child should have to live in poverty. The UK social security system is supposed to be there to ensure a basic standard of living, reduce poverty and inequality and help people through the toughest of times.”

Subject to parliamentary approval, the Scottish Government plans to mitigate the two-child limit from March next year.

Shirley-Anne Somerville has urged the UK Government to scrap the two-child limit. PA Media

Introducing a two-child limit payment, eligible recipients will receive £292.81 a month.

The Scottish Government says it is estimated the move will keep 20,000 children out of relative poverty next year.

Holyrood ministers are also spending £100 million this financial year through the discretionary housing payment.

Somerville said it is due to Scottish Government decisions that child poverty rates are lower than in the UK.

She said: “That is why the Scottish Government has made bold decisions – like introducing the Scottish child payment and investing in our devolved social security system. Child poverty rates are now lower in Scotland than the rest of the UK and relative child poverty rates in Scotland are at their lowest level in almost a decade.

“I call on the chancellor to follow our example by scrapping the caps, match the Scottish child payment and introduce an essentials guarantee, which would ensure universal credit actually covers the costs of life’s essentials, such as food and fuel.”

Data published by the UK Government in March revealed 4.5 million children were in poverty in the year to April 2024. This was an increase of 100,000 from the previous year.

A UK Government spokesperson said: “Every child, no matter their background, deserves the best start in life.

“That’s why our Child Poverty Taskforce will publish an ambitious strategy to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

“We have secured for Scotland the largest real-terms settlement in the history of devolution – delivering a record annual figure of £50.9 billion – for spending on policies that are key levers to tackling child poverty, including housing, education, childcare, debt advice and employability.”