MSPS have voted to pass a motion calling on the UK Government to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Proposed by First Minister John Swinney, the motion passed by 72 votes to 50. Tory and Labour amendments both fell – with MSPs from both parties also voting against the SNP motion. The Scottish Greens, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Alba, meanwhile, all voted in favor.
The motion specifically called on the UK Government to “match the ambition of the Scottish Government” and abolish the two-child limit and benefit cap at the earliest possible opportunity. It also noted analysis from the Child Poverty Action Group estimating that abolishing the two-child limit could lift 15,000 children in Scotland out of poverty.
A new report from the Scottish Fiscal Commission has said that mitigating the UK Government’s two-child benefit cap in Scotland will cost £155 million in the first year. The commission on Tuesday published its report into the projected cost of the SNP’s aim of “mitigating the two-child limit” for people in Scotland. It found that ending the cap would add £155m onto the Scottish benefits bill in 2026/27, rising to £198m in 2029/2030.
The report projected that around 43,000 children would be impacted by the mitigation payments in 2026, rising to 50,000 by 2030. However, it warned that other spending would likely have to be “constrained” to continue mitigating the benefit cap. “The additional spending on the proposed mitigation payments in 2026‑27 leads to overall social security spending being £1.6 billion higher than the Block Grant Adjustment funding provided by the UK Government,” the SFC said.
The UK’s two-child benefit cap limits the social security payments a person can claim for third or subsequent children, unless they can meet certain conditions such as proving that the child is a product of rape. It was brought in by the Tory government and firmly opposed by Labour. The now-Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner previously called it “obscene”. However, since taking power, Keir Starmer’s Labour Government has refused to lift the cap, instead saying that economic growth must come before anything else. The SNP Government in Scotland has pledged to work towards lifting the cap in 2026, saying that it needs data held by the UK Government to do so.