Tory Scottish child payment cap plans branded ‘cruel’ by minister

Tory plans to introduce a two-child limit to the Scottish child payment have been branded “cruel” and “arbitrary” by the Scottish Government.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay announced the move on Wednesday as he published a paper on his party’s welfare policy ahead of May’s election.

Under the plans, the £27.15 weekly payment would only be available to the first two children in a family – a change he described as “fair, reasonable and necessary”.

Claiming Scotland’s “bloated benefits bill is unaffordable”, he argued that allowing families to claim the payment for all their children has enabled some parents to reduce their hours at work, “or even quit work altogether”, and the cap would act as an incentive to work.

The benefit has been praised by poverty charities since its inception under former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, and looks set to be expanded to provide £40 a week to families with children under one from April.

The Tory plans echo a similar measure put in place at Westminster when the party was in power which limited the amount people could claim in child benefits, before Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government announced that cap would be scrapped from April.

Mr Findlay said: “Our country is blessed to have a social security system that helps people in genuine need, but the benefits bill has spiralled out of control under the SNP.

“We are the only party being straight with the paying public by saying that Scotland’s bloated benefits bill is unaffordable, unfair and unsustainable.”

He added there is “worrying new evidence” showing many of those receiving the payment “work less or even quit work altogether because they’re financially better off by claiming this SNP benefit”.

Mr Findlay continued: “With costs of the Scottish child payment set to hit over half a billion pounds in coming years, we believe the time has come to limit the benefit to a couple’s first two children.”

But Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville – who is responsible for the devolved benefits agency – hit out at the plans.

“This is a cruel, arbitrary policy proposal that is directly opposed by the Scottish Government,” she said.

“This would pull children into poverty and limit the prospects of future generations through no fault of their own.

“The Scottish child payment is benefiting around 322,000 children, while keeping around 40,000 children out of poverty this year.

“It is unconscionable to me that some should now be punished for circumstances beyond their control.

“We see social security as a vital investment in people, a human right, and a public service that anyone may rely upon throughout their lives – we are committed to this approach.

“That’s why the draft Scottish Budget pledges a premium top-up to the Scottish child payment for eligible parents with children under one, benefiting around 12,000 children, while delivering the strongest cost-of-living package in the UK.”

Speaking to journalists at an event in Edinburgh, the First Minister said on Wednesday he was “almost speechless” about the proposals.

“I think what Russell Findlay has demonstrated is that the Conservatives want to turn the clock back and they would undermine my efforts to reduce child poverty, and I think reducing child poverty is the central point we need to make progress on in Scotland,” he added.

The First Minister and Social Justice Secretary were joined in her criticism by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, whose associate director for Scotland Chris Birt said the Tory proposals would “cause avoidable hardship”.

He added: “When it was applied at a UK level, the main impact of the two-child limit was to force children into poverty as a result of them having brothers and sisters.

“Introducing it in Scotland for the Scottish child payment would cause avoidable hardship.

“It remains a shocking fact that almost half of children in Scotland in poverty currently live in a household with three or more children, and as things stand we are not going to meet our child poverty reduction targets.

“Social security and support for work must not be seen as competing policies, and treating them as such has failed to reduce poverty over recent years.”

The IPPR Scotland think tank added the benefit is having a “tangible impact”.

“Scotland’s child poverty targets were agreed by all the main parties in the Scottish Parliament and are legally binding,” the think tank’s director Stephen Boyd said.

“The Conservatives – and others who oppose the policy – need to come forward with compelling alternatives. Relying on getting more parents into work just doesn’t cut it.”

The pledge to cap the Scottish child payment to two children is part of what Mr Findlay hailed as a “bold new social security paper”.

Claiming that spending on benefits in Scotland will be “almost £10 billion” a year by the end of this decade, the paper declared: “The SNP are spending too much on benefits, taking too much from taxpayers – and disincentivising work.”

The Tories also plan to introduce new assessments for those claiming benefits on mental health grounds, saying the changes could save taxpayers £1 billion.

The party is also pledging to end “light-touch reviews” of benefit recipients’ payments, arguing people should no longer be able to “just tick a box to stay on benefits”.

Face-to-face reviews would be brought in for some claimants, with people asked to prove they still meet the criteria for payments.