Ministers delay flagship child poverty plan until the autumn
The child poverty strategy, originally due to be published this spring, was expected to include a recommendation to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
Ministers have delayed a flagship plan aimed at driving down child poverty until the autumn.
The child poverty strategy, originally due to be published this spring, was expected to include a recommendation to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
But the plan has now been pushed back until the autumn, the PA news agency understands, in order to align it with the next budget.
Worries about the cost of the project and its political benefit are said to be key concerns for figures at the heart of the Government, according to the Guardian newspaper which first reported the story.
The two-child benefit cap was introduced when the Conservatives were in power, and restricts parents from claiming certain benefits for more than two of their children.
Its critics say scrapping the cap would be the most effective way of reducing child poverty across the UK.
According to the Guardian, experts have warned some 100 children are pulled into poverty every day by the limit, meaning up to 20,000 could be impacted by a six-month delay.
Some within Government are concerned that delaying any action on the cap beyond the autumn will mean the impact of scrapping it would not be felt before the next general election, the newspaper said.
Labour backbenchers have been urging ministers to scrap the cap over recent months, amid a brewing rebellion against wider welfare reforms.
When asked about whether the Government is considering scrapping the cap, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman has not ruled it out, but insisted there is no single “silver bullet” to tackling child poverty.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said the strategy would be “published later this year”, but emphasised the Government was taking a “comprehensive approach” to child poverty, including rolling out free breakfast clubs, increasing the number of affordable homes, and making moves to drive down household bills.
Lord John Bird, an anti-poverty campaigner and founder of the Big Issue, criticised news of the delay and said the Government had “just kicked the issue of child poverty into the long grass”.
He added: “The impact of their inaction will be grave. It is shameful that child poverty is forecast to not fall, but rise significantly, to 31.5% of children under this Labour government.
“We need action now, not in six months or a year’s time. I will relentlessly pursue my intervention of adding child poverty targets to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill with the vigour that the 4.3 million children living in poverty in our country deserve.”
Meanwhile, Dan Paskins, executive director of policy, advocacy and campaigns at Save the Children UK, said: “Every month that goes by while Keir Starmer does not scrap the cruel two-child limit means thousands of children are plunged into poverty.
“We would like to see assurance from Number 10 that this delay means their child poverty strategy contains bold ideas backed with the finance – starting with scrapping the two-child limit and benefit cap.”
Elsewhere, Helen Barnard, director of policy, research and impact at the Trussell Trust, suggested delaying the strategy could benefit the people it is designed to help.
Writing on social media site X, she said “better a delayed child poverty strategy with measures to really protect children from hunger and hardship” than “one hitting the deadline but falling short on substance”.
