Scottish Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville and Welsh Deputy First Minister Sioned Williams sent a joint letter to UK ministers on Tuesday, calling for the benefit cap and the so-called bedroom tax to be scrapped, as well as for the UK Government to end the freeze on local housing allowance and provide targeted discounts on household bills.
Chancellor John Healey is due to lay out his first Budget since taking the job – and the first of Andy Burnham’s premiership – next week.
The Chancellor will lay out his first Budget next week (Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA)
PA Wire
In the letter – addressed to UK Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden and Education Secretary Lucy Powell – the two ministers said: “Collectively we have welcomed the end of the two-child limit across the UK from April 2026.
“This is a critical step forward which is helping to ease the burden on families across the UK, but it is not enough on its own to break the cycle of poverty.
“The benefit cap, bedroom tax and young parent penalty are all driving hardship among households across the country and should be removed in the forthcoming Budget.
“The combined impact of these measures drives thousands of families into the deepest forms of hardship, pushing them further from support and toward emergency provision including foodbanks.”
The letter also urges the Government to end the freeze on local housing allowance – which dictates how much in benefits can be received towards people’s rent – while setting out a plan to increase it to cover 50% of all private rents over time.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should also create a “take-up strategy” to promote applications for benefits, it said.
“On these issues and more, our action on child poverty will be stronger if we work together,” the letter said.
“At the last meeting of the four nations ministerial group on child poverty in March, all four nations agreed on the need to continue meaningful collaboration.
“We urge you to work with us to maximise our collective impact in the months and years ahead.
“Ensuring that no child’s life is limited by poverty is a mission that we all share.
“We urge you to prioritise the steps we have set out and to work with us to drive further progress.”
The UK Government has been contacted for comment.