FIRST Minister John Swinney has guaranteed payments to families who have fallen foul of the two-child benefit cap will be made by April next year.
The Scottish Government pledged to mitigate the policy, which limits the number of children families can claim benefits for, in its budget announced in December.
The policy is estimated to cost the Government £200 million per year by 2029, according to the Scottish Fiscal Commission, rising from £155 million in 2026-27.
Benefits spending by the end of the decade, the forecaster said, would make up 14.9% of the Government’s budget.
Speaking on the Daily Record’s Planet Holyrood podcast, Swinney said the payments will be in people’s accounts by this time next year.
Asked if he could guarantee that will be the case, he said: “Yes.”
The change – which will only take effect in Scotland – requires data from the Department for Work and Pensions to identify those impacted by the cap.
“The principal issue is about data and that work is under way,” he said.
“That co-operation is being taken forward to develop the systems.
He added he has “no issues” with the flow of data from the UK Government department.
“We’re having a conversation about rather dry topics of data and data handling,” he said.
“What it means is that it will help to lift children and families out of poverty.”
The First Minister has consistently named the eradication of child poverty as his driving mission, but he admitted that is not working as quickly as he wants after figures released last month showed the Government had missed its statutory target of reducing rates below 18% by 2023-24.
“We’re seeing child poverty levels reduce in Scotland, but not reducing as fast as I would like to see them,” he said.
