Content

Council
Agreed the following motion:
 

The Council
notes: 
·        
In 2017, the
Conservative Government introduced a limit on benefit payments,
preventing families from claiming Child Tax Credit or Universal
Credit for more than two children per household (this is commonly
referred to as the ‘Two-Child Benefit
Cap’). 
·        
The recent research
conducted by the End Child Poverty Coalition[1] which has found
that: 
·        
1.5 million children in
the UK live in households subject to the two-child benefit cap.
This represents roughly
one-in-ten children in the
UK. 
·        
In 2023/24 the two-child
benefit cap cost families up to £3,235 per child each
year. 
·        
There is a strong
correlation between families affected by the two-child benefit cap
and those who are living in
poverty. 
·        
Scrapping the two-child
benefit cap would lift 250,000 children out of poverty overnight,
and significantly reduce the level of poverty that a further
850,000 children live in. 
·        
Scrapping the two-child
benefit cap would cost £1.3 billion, however it is estimated
that child poverty costs the economy £39 billion each
year. 
·        
In South Cambridgeshire,
approximately 2,200 (6%) children are currently affected by the
two-child benefit cap. At the same time 5,171 children (14.1%) are
living in poverty across South
Cambridgeshire. 
 
The Council strongly believes that
the two-child benefit cap is a cruel and harmful policy that should
be scrapped. Research from the University of York[2] has shown its introduction has had
no positive impacts on employment and earnings; rather, it has
dragged thousands of local families into
poverty. 
 
The Council further notes that the
Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed the two-child benefit
cap since it was introduced – calling for it to be axed in
their 2017, 2019 and 2024
manifestos. 
 
The Council notes with concern the
Conservative Party’s stated policy, to continue with the cap,
and the indication by the
Labour Party Leader that they would ‘keep the two-child
benefit cap’. 
 
The Council resolves
to: 
·        
Instruct the Leader to
write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Prime Minister to
indicate the Council’s
strong belief that the two-child benefit cap should be scrapped
– which would help the 2,200 children living in South
Cambridgeshire who are affected by the
cap. 
·        
Further instruct the
Chief Executive to write to all MPs covering South Cambridgeshire,
asking them to commit their public support to the campaign to end
the cruel two-child limit to benefit
payments. 
·        
Encourage other local
authorities to agree similar resolutions, with the aim of bringing
an end to this cruel
policy.