Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Two-child Benefit Cap

Monday 17 March 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Health Secretary and the Minister discussed child poverty multiple times while in opposition.
  • The Minister reassured the House that all children in poverty will be supported by the taskforce, regardless of policy decisions.
  • The Minister emphasized that all children in the country matter and that a range of policy options are being considered carefully.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Joshua Reynolds Lib Dem Maidenhead
NHS Benefits & Welfare Children & Families
Context

The two-child benefit cap was introduced by the Conservative government ten years ago, leading to an increase in child poverty. A BMJ study found that people in food poverty have diets with worse health outcomes.

Question

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of removing the two-child benefit cap? A BMJ study found that people in food poverty have diets with worse health outcomes including more fat, sugar and salt, so what conversations has the Minister had with the Health Secretary about how lifting the two-child benefit cap could improve diet and reduce costs for the NHS?

Answer from The Minister for Employment (Alison McGovern)

The Health Secretary and I talked about child poverty many times as we sat on the Opposition Benches watching the situation for our kids get worse and worse every year. The Member makes a very serious and important point about the wide-ranging consequences of poverty and, if I may, I would encourage him to submit the evidence he mentioned to the child poverty taskforce so that we can take full account of it.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific conversations regarding lifting the two-child benefit cap were not detailed.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q2 Meg Hillier Labour (Co-op) Hackney South and Shoreditch
Children & Families
Context

There is speculation that the child poverty taskforce could lift the two-child benefit cap for under-fives, which would affect fewer than 20,000 households compared with the 440,000 currently affected by the cap.

Question

Can the Minister reassure the House and the country that the child poverty taskforce is looking to support all children in poverty, whatever decisions it comes up with, and not just a small segment of them?

Answer from The Minister for Employment (Alison McGovern)

Yes, I can. All children matter. We are taking account of a considerable range of different policy options, carefully working through the impact that they would have, but all the children in this country matter.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The minister did not specify which segments of children will be affected by specific decisions made by the taskforce.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)