By Bill Heaney
The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced a child poverty taskforce, pledging to leave “no stone unturned” in tackling a growing problem in low-income families.
Expert officials from across government would work together on how best to support more than four-million children now living in poverty, the government said.
The total has risen by 700,000 since 2010, it added.
In the Commons, MPs including Labour’s former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn joined children’s charities and anti-poverty campaigners in calling for the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap as the most cost-effective way of reducing child poverty.
The cap was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017 to restrict child welfare payments to a family’s first two children, which the latest government figures show impacts 1.6 million children.
Sir Keir Starmer said the taskforce would “address the root causes of poverty” and be jointly run by the Department for Work and Pensions, responsible for welfare payments, and the Department for Education.
But intervening during Sir Keir’s contribution to the King’s Speech debate in the Commons, Mr Flynn asked why the two-child benefit cap could not be removed immediately.
Sir Keir Starmer is challenged by the SNP on the two-child benefit cap
“Can the prime minister outline how many children will remain in poverty whilst this taskforce undertakes the work which will ultimately lead to the same conclusion which we are proposing – to scrap the two-child benefit cap?”
The SNP-led Scottish government has mitigated the cap through its devolved social security benefit system and has long called for the UK government to axe it altogether.
The prime minister responded that no single policy would be a silver bullet to solve a complex problem, but said the last Labour government had reduced child poverty before and the current one was committed to doing so again.
He said: “The point of the taskforce is to devise a strategy, as we did when last in government, to drive these numbers down.
“It can’t be a single issue – it’s across a number of strands… What matters is the commitment to do it and to drive those numbers down.”
Labour has insisted resources are tight and, ahead of the King’s Speech, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden reiterated the government would not promise what it could not deliver.
But, in a sign of discontent among Labour backbenchers, Mr McDonnell also urged the PM to ditch the two-child cap “within weeks”.
“There’s one simple act that will lift 300,000 children out of poverty this month and it would be the scrapping of the two-child limit,” he said.
The latest Department for Work and Pensions figures showed the two-child cap affected 1.6 million children as of April this year, up from 1.5 million in April 2023, and two-thirds of those families had at least one parent in work.
The House of Commons Library published a report on the policy’s impact, external in February 2024, concluding “This continuing trend of increasing relative poverty has been driven almost entirely by rising poverty among households with three or more children.”
Ministers responsible for the new child poverty taskforce met children’s charities and campaigners, who have united in calling for the two-child cap to go as soon as possible.
One of those charities was Barnardo’s, whose chief executive Lynn Perry said she understood the government had to take tough financial decisions, but added “families need action urgently, starting with a change to this unfair policy”.
Another was UNICEF, whose director Joanna Rea said the new government “must immediately prioritise support for its youngest and most vulnerable citizens, starting with ending the two-child limit policy and removing the benefit cap”.
Meanwhile, the SNP has tabled an amendment to the King’s Speech calling for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped.
The party said the cap – which prevents most parents from claiming benefits for a third child – is “pushing thousands of Scottish children into poverty”.
Submitted by Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, the amendment is expected to be supported by MPs in Plaid Cymru, the Greens and independents including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Keir Starmer faced pressure to reverse the policy in his programme for government on Wednesday – he later announced a taskforce aimed at tackling the increase in child poverty.
The UK government said there are now four million children living in poverty, an increase of 700,000 since 2010.
According to the latest figures from the Department of Work and Pensions, the two-child benefit cap affects 1.6 million children.
Flynn, pictured right, called the policy a “disgrace” and said it must be “scrapped immediately”.
He said: “It’s shameful that Keir Starmer has made the political choice to continue imposing Tory austerity cuts, instead of delivering the change that people in Scotland were promised.
“The Labour government shouldn’t need a taskforce to find a conscience and do the right thing. This cynical attempt to kick the issue into the long grass won’t wash with voters.
“For every day that Starmer dithers and delays, more children will suffer the consequences of Labour inaction.”
Mr Flynn has also called on some of Scotland’s new Labour MP’s to vote for his amendment.
If chosen by the Speaker, it would go to a vote next week.
In the interim, Wendy Chamberlain MP for North East Fife, has tabled a Parliamentary motion calling on the Government to remove the two-child limit on social payments in the first Budget.
The Liberal Democrats urge the Government to announce the removal of the cap in the first Budget. Lifting the cap is the most cost-effective way of immediately lifting 300,000 of children out of poverty, while helping to make costs more manageable for parents.
Chamberlain, pictured left, said: “The two-child benefit cap creates avoidable poverty for children and families across the country.
“The Liberal Democrats are calling on the new Government to scrap this policy to not only help thousands of children, but to also help parents find better employment opportunities.
“Whilst I acknowledge that Labour have set up a Child Poverty Commission, it doesn’t take a commission to realise that we need to lift this cap.
“The Liberal Democrats feel strongly that this needs to happen urgently which is why scrapping the cap will be in our King’s Speech amendment.
“Not only is this the most cost-effective way of alleviating poverty, we also have a moral obligation to change this unnecessary policy.”
What is the two-child benefit cap?
Introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, the cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third child, with a few exemptions, external.
These benefits help with the cost of raising a child. Parents and carers might be able to get them if their children are under 16 or, if they are in eligible training, up to the age of 20.
The sum they are given depends on their income, how many children are living with them, and their childcare costs.
The House of Commons Library published a report on the policy’s impact in February 2024, concluding “This continuing trend of increasing relative poverty has been driven almost entirely by rising poverty among households with three or more children.”
Ian Murray said his party want to get rid of the cap but can’t afford to yet.
The prime minister has faced pressure from within his own party to abolish the cap. Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside Kim Johnson also submitted an amendment, external to end the policy on Wednesday.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie, the MSP for Dumbarton, have both said they want to see it scrapped. Previously Mr Sarwar said he would pressure the PM to ditch the policy if Labour won the election.
Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Meanwhile the Scottish secretary, Ian Murray, said his party wanted to get rid of the cap but they cannot afford to yet.
On Wednesday he told BBC Radio Scotland’s Drivetime programme: “The prime minister has said himself that he wants rid of this two-child benefit cap, he’s been pretty clear about that.
“The honest thing to say to the public is we will do this, we want to do it. It is something we want to get rid of but we cannot afford to do that and we won’t make a promise we cannot deliver.”
Ministers responsible for the new child poverty taskforce have met children’s charities and campaigners, who say scrapping the cap is the most cost-effective way of reducing child poverty.
Mr Murray added the government’s taskforce on child poverty and review of universal credit would have a “laser-like focus on making sure that poverty is eradicated in this country”.
Asked how long it would take, he said the government would have to grow the economy before it could invest in public services and deliver reforms.
“These things are going to take time. We can’t do everything overnight. We would like to do a lot of things that we can’t do because we’re hamstrung by the situation that we’ve inherited,” he said.
“We will do things as quickly as we can.”
Top of page artwork by Jane Heaney
Cut the cackle. Taskforce indeed.
How’s about a commitment to end the two children benefit cap introduced by the Tories in 2017?
That could be an immediate start to ending child poverty but somehow it didn’t make the King’s speech.
Sir Keir however has managed to announce his commitment to Israel, his support to providing the weapons and has announced a £3 billion grant to Ukraine.
He’s also announced a £53 billion increase in military spending. No doubt Mone Military Uniforms will be glad to assist with this.
But cynicism aside. How about putting some money into struggling parents with struggling children?
The task force can do its magic later.