Oeddech chi'n golygu to child benefit can?
Kim Johnson: I beg to move, That this House has considered the two-child benefit cap and child poverty. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. I am grateful to have the opportunity to lead this debate and raise the issue of the two-child benefit cap and its impact on child poverty. I put on record my thanks to all those who have championed this campaign in the six years since the...
Kevin Stewart: Let us look at the impact that the two-child benefit cap had in Scotland in 2022-23. In that year, 80,936 children lived in households where benefits were reduced because of the two-child benefit cap. The cap was directly applied to 32,616 children, and it deprived households of £95.7 million in social security. The cap put 20,000 children in poverty after housing costs. Those are not...
Shirley-Anne Somerville: I agree absolutely with Joan McAlpine. We have continually called on the UK Government to scrap the two-child limit, the rape clause and the benefit cap, and to fix other flaws in the universal credit system. We know, for example, that more than 13,000 households in Scotland are affected by the two-child limit, and are receiving around £232 less per month than they would otherwise get for...
Fleur Anderson: In Putney, 31% of children live in poverty. The biggest measure that the Chancellor could bring in is scrapping the two-child benefit cap, which is cruel and leaves children in poverty. Has he assessed the two-child benefit cap, and when will he scrap it?
Lord Freud: On its introduction we estimate that household benefit payments will be capped at around £500 per week for couple and lone parent households and around £350 per week for single adult households. We estimate that 50,000 households will be affected by the benefit cap. The median level of child benefit received by couples with children and lone parents with median earnings is estimated to be...
Octavia Holland: I want to pick up on the reference you just made to the benefit cap and to single parents, to make sure that everybody is clear on the stats. Over 60% of people capped so far have been single parents; 70% of them have children under five and 34% have children under two. DWP’s own research shows really clearly that the younger the child is when the parent is capped, the...
John Swinney: I understand and sympathise entirely with the point that Collette Stevenson has advanced. The analysis that the IPPR has provided has demonstrated quite clearly the negative impact of the benefit cap and the two-child limit as being both unjust and unfair. All Governments must take action to address child poverty issues. As I said in my opening answer, the Scottish Government has introduced...
the Bishop of Durham: My Lords, the Covid-19 crisis has amplified child poverty. The welcome measures that raised UC and increased LHA show that radical government action is possible, but they have highlighted two policies as unfair. The first is the two-child limit. Recent events demonstrate life’s unpredictability. It exposes the flawed view of how the two-child limit policy was set up. Children should not be...
David Linden: Rather than deal with the known policy failures within the benefits system, the Government seem to be more focused on penalising people through, for example, the two-child cap. Last week, the Labour party joined the Conservatives in prioritising lifting the cap on bankers’ bonuses rather than the two-child cap on working women. Does the Secretary of State take comfort in the fact that his...
Baroness Hollis of Heigham: ..., this amendment relates to a situation that we touched on earlier, when we were debating the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham. Gingerbread reports that if a single parent with two primary school children is expecting a baby next month, just at the time when her needs increase she will lose £32 in housing benefit because of the benefit cap. The amendment is tightly...
Liam McArthur: The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-12841, in the name of Clare Haughey, on the seventh anniversary of the two-child benefit cap. The debate will be concluded without any question being put. I would be grateful if members who wish to participate could press their request-to-speak buttons. Motion debated, That the...
Baroness Sherlock: ...that and I commend the Government for having made the right decision, but will she think about what the next stage is? My honourable friend Anna Turley has raised the case of a constituent who had two dependent children in her care and was then asked by social services to take in two of her grandchildren. As a result, the household was hit by the benefit cap. Will the Minister think about...
Baroness Buscombe: The table below shows the number of households with three or more children that had their Housing Benefit capped at each month since April 2017 by family type and number of children, for lone parent families and two-parent families. The information requested on the number of families with three or more children that have been affected by the benefit cap in each month since April 2017 with...
Elizabeth Truss: The number of Child Tax Credit claimants who received an exception from the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children on the basis of non-parental care was 270 on 2 April 2018. This information is published and can be found by following the URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-tax-credit-an d-universal-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-polic...
Mark Hoban: When assessing whether the benefit cap will apply, the Department will apply certain exemptions according to the published rules. For the purposes of the benefit cap, a household or family unit refers to the benefit claimant, their partner (if they have one) and any child or qualifying young person for whom that adult or couple are treated as responsible when working out their housing...
Justin Tomlinson: From April 2013 (when the benefit cap was introduced) to February 2015 (the latest available data) 32,680 lone parents with dependent children have been capped. Of these (a) 4,210 households (13%) have a child under one year old, (b) 9,520 households (29%) have a child under two years old, (c) 14,200 households (44%) have a child under three years old and (d) 18,270 households (56%) have a...
Fulton MacGregor: I welcome the cabinet secretary’s response and the announcement in the programme for government that the new benefit will be introduced early for the most vulnerable children, many of whom are in my constituency of Coatbridge and Chryston. Can the cabinet secretary confirm that the Scottish child payment will have no cap on the number of eligible children in a family, unlike the UK...
the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds: Thank you very much. The answer to that question is £113 million, which is a minute proportion of the total cost of welfare benefit addressed in the Bill. This cap is not simply targeted at wealthy families living in large houses. It will damage those who have to pay high rents, because often that rent has increased substantially in the course of occupancy of that house. An out-of-work...
Baroness Drake: My Lords, I too support Amendment 90B, which seeks to exclude kinship carers from the benefit cap. The amendment is, indeed, a logical extension of our discussion on the first day of Committee on kinship carers and their exemption from the two-child limit. To reiterate, care proceedings cost an average of £25,000 and foster care £40,000 a year, yet most kinship care arrangements can be...
