Swinney seeks to speed up action to scrap two-child cap in Scotland

Ending the two-child cap on some benefits in Scotland could take place earlier than expected, with First Minister John Swinney saying his Government could act in the coming year.

Setting out plans to possibly accelerate action, Mr Swinney said there is the “potential to make a real and radical difference to the lives of children in Scotland”.

SNP ministers at Holyrood have previously pledged to effectively scrap the policy north of the border, but this had not been expected to happen before April 2026.

The benefits cap means families can only claim some benefits for their first two children, with no payments made for subsequent children.

The Scottish Budget for 2025-26 includes funds to work towards ending the cap, and Mr Swinney said on Wednesday that if the system can be put in place more quickly, payments could start to be made in the coming year – although he accepted later that this was “unlikely”.

The announcement came just over a month after the policy was first unveiled in the Scottish Government’s draft Budget.

Those spending plans already include “the resources that we need to build the systems that will allow us to effectively remove the two-child cap for claimants in Scotland”, Mr Swinney said.

However his speech in Stirling on Wednesday failed to mention where the cash to fund any payments in 2025-26 would come from – with independent experts at the Scottish Fiscal Commission having already advised the policy could cost £155 million in its first year.

But despite this, the First Minister pledged: “If we are able to safely get the systems up and running in this coming year, the first payments will be made in this coming year, helping to lift thousands of children out of poverty.”

He also said that if the UK Labour Government, which has said it is unable to lift the cap at present, does abolish it UK-wide – a move that will bring extra cash to Scotland – the money Scottish ministers have allocated to fund the policy “will continue to be used on measures to eradicate child poverty in Scotland”.

His comments came as the First Minister dismissed suggestions that “the eradication of child poverty is an impossibility”, with Mr Swinney saying:  “If we want it, if we prioritise it, if we make it our goal then together we can make real progress towards achieving it.”

While he stressed there are “no easy solutions” to child poverty – which affects about one in four youngsters in Scotland – the SNP leader said he wants his government to work with councils, the third sector including charities and others to “create a coalition with a national purpose to eradicate child poverty in Scotland”.

He said: “If we all work collaboratively, if we all focus on how the money that is available could have the maximum impact, if we all identify what works and if we all make that happen, relentlessly across Scotland, I believe we have the potential to make a real and radical difference to the lives of children.”

But with data needed from the UK Government’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) before the Scottish Government can remove the two-child cap, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said the SNP “need to develop the policy a bit further so they know what they need”.

He insisted the the DWP was “willing to help develop the policy” but speaking to journalists at Holrood Mr Murray claimed Scottish ministers had “announced something without a policy”.

He stated: “This was the number one announcement from their budget and yet they have never before asked for any relevant data around the two-child cap, so they have made an announcement without a policy.”

Speaking about the DWP, the Labour MP added: “Nobody has asked for any of this data before, so they are starting from a very low base.

“And the key thing being the Scottish Government haven’t really fully developed what their thinking is, so they are not quite sure what they are asking for.

“The DWP are going to provide anything that they need, but development is at such an early stage they are not quite sure what data is required.”

Meanwhile, campaigners at the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) said increasing the Scottish Child Payment – a benefit paid to low-income families with children in Scotland – was needed to reduce child poverty.

CPAG director John Dickie said: “There is no credible route to meeting Scotland’s child poverty targets that does not involve further substantive increases to the value of the Scottish Child Payment, alongside more action to improve access to childcare and to affordable family housing.

“The most pressing action the First Minister can deliver is to substantively increase the real-terms value of the Scottish Child Payment in his budget for the coming year.”

Mr Dickie said: “The commitment to effectively scrap the two-child limit in Scotland by 2026 is extremely welcome, as is today’s promise to ringfence the resources for that.

“This will require in the event the policy is scrapped at UK level. But the hard reality is that struggling families need an income boost now.”