THE Labour Government has been accused of “dragging its heels” on work to help end the two-child benefit cap in Scotland after failing to respond to an SNP Cabinet Secretary for more than two months.
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told MSPs last week that a letter she sent to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on December 16 had not yet received a reply.
Somerville had written to request data held by the DWP on the families in Scotland who are impacted by the UK Government’s two-child cap – which prevents people claiming benefits for third or subsequent children except in certain cases, such as if they can prove that the child is a product of rape.
Last month, the letter was the centre of a row that saw First Minister John Swinney suggest that Scottish Secretary Ian Murray had given inaccurate information to the press.
The top Labour MP had told media at Holyrood that the SNP Government had not “asked for any relevant data around the two-child cap, so they have made an announcement without a policy”.
However, Somerville then published the December 16 letter – into which Murray was copied – where she asked the DWP for the data needed to mitigate the two-child cap.
The SNP said that Somerville had still not received a reply.
SNP MSP Collette Stevenson said: "The SNP's decision to mitigate the Labour UK Government’s cruel two-child benefit cap will help lift an estimated 15,000 Scottish children out of poverty – it is the right thing to do.
"The Scottish Government needs positive co-operation from the DWP to make this happen. The Labour UK Government needs to stop dragging its heels and respond to the Cabinet Secretary’s letter requesting the necessary data.
"The Labour party is clearly not interested in tackling child poverty with any urgency – in contrast, under First Minister John Swinney, this is the SNP’s first priority."
The claim that around 15,000 Scottish children would be lifted out of poverty by ending the two-child cap was based on figures from the Child Poverty Action Group.
Asked for a response, a DWP spokesperson did not address the letter from Somerville.
“As we fix the foundations of the economy, we’re increasing the Living Wage, uprating benefits and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families with children by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions to help low-income households and make everyone better off.”
The SNP have pledged to end the two-child cap in Scotland from 2026, saying they will do so sooner if possible.
Mitigating the cap in Scotland will cost £155 million in the first year and help 43,000 children, the Scottish Fiscal Commission has estimated.
