Tories call for two-child cap on Scottish Child Payment

The Scottish Conservatives have proposed a two-child cap on the country's flagship child benefit.

Party leader Russell Findlay also pledged to save more than £1bn from the "bloated" welfare bill by toughening up assessments for disability benefits.

He claimed that the Scottish Child Payment - claimed weekly by families on certain benefits - was disincentivising some recipients from working.

The social justice secretary described the proposal as "cruel".

Findlay told BBC Scotland News that while his party supported welfare for "those in need", the benefits bill was "out of control".

Announcing his party's social security policy ahead of May's Holyrood election, he denied that his proposals were "draconian".

Introduced by Nicola Sturgeon in 2021, the Scottish Child Payment (SCP) is set at £27.15 per week for every eligible child aged up to16.

The government has estimated the payment is keeping 40,000 children out of relative poverty in 2025-26.

However, Findlay said that the SCP was disincentivising work for many recipients, while claiming others were turning down pay rises to avoid losing out on the benefit.

An estimated 326,225 children were benefitting from the SCP as of March last year.

Currently, a parent of three eligible children could receive more than £4,200 a year from the benefit. If a two-child cap was imposed, they would lose out on about £1,400.

The Conservatives said the move would save £73m in the coming financial year.

Findlay said: "Benefits should be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice. Hard-working Scots who struggle to pay the bills know that no-one should be better off through a life on benefits.

"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. This is a fair, reasonable and necessary measure.

"Given the child payment is a standalone SNP policy, the soaring costs in relation to it will have to be met either by more tax increases or cuts to public services."

The Scottish Conservative leader cited a recent government review of the SCP.

It highlighted a "minority" of cases in which recipients said the benefit helped them to work less, and noted employment "challenges" for those who were at risk of losing out the SCP as their wages increased.

However, the paper concluded that the benefit had "not negatively affected labour market participation at scale in the economy".

A recent study published by the London School of Economics concluded that "in practice" the SCP had not disincentivised work among recipients.

It noted evidence that the benefit was helping to reduce poverty, and described it as a "powerful welfare policy to support families living on low income".

Chris Birt, Joseph Rowntree Foundation associate director for Scotland, noted that almost half of children in Scotland in poverty were in a household with three or more children. He said a two-child cap would cause "avoidable hardship".

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: "This is a cruel, arbitrary policy proposal that is directly opposed by the Scottish government.

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

The Tories said they would aim to save more than £1bn by introducing a new assessment for the Adult Disability payment (ADP).

Under the proposals, those applying due to mental health issues would have to provide evidence that they "face unavoidable and necessary extra costs due to their condition".

Findlay also vowed to create a new fraud unit within Social Security Scotland, invest in employability schemes and use technology to replace translation services for people applying for benefits.

The Scottish Conservative leader added that he would end a so-called "tick-box culture" which he said allows claimants to tick a box if they wish to continue receiving ADP.

The Scottish government prides itself on using its devolved powers to create a more generous welfare system than the UK government - but this comes at a cost.

The gap between what Holyrood ministers spend on social security and what they receive from the Treasury to fund the welfare system north of the border is forecast to grow to £1.1bn in 2026-27, rising to £1.2bn in 2030-31.

This spending has to be funded by moving cash from other areas, increasing taxes and/or borrowing.

The government announced earlier this month that it was planning to increase the child payment to £28.20 per week, with a new £40 rate to be introduced for children aged under one from 2027-28.

The Tory proposals for a two-child cap mirror a controversial UK-wide policy that means parents can only claim Universal Credit or tax credits for their first two children.

The chancellor recently announced she would scrap the policy.

The Scottish government, which had long called for the cap to be axed, had been planning to mitigate it north of the border until Labour ministers announced their decision.