In Parliament

Bob Doris (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (SNP)

This week, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights called on the United Kingdom Labour Government to immediately repeal its two-child cap, as it violates children’s rights and exacerbates poverty and social inequality. In that context, will the First Minister give an update on the work of our Scottish National Party Government to end the two-child cap in Scotland? Will he join my calls—yet again—for Westminster to scrap at source Labour’s cruel two-child cap, which, let us not forget, is deliberately designed to deny 1.6 million children in low-income families enough money simply to live on?

The First Minister (John Swinney)

I reassure Mr Doris that the Government is taking forward work that involves the design of systems to enable us to lift the two-child cap, which is one of the policy priorities and commitments in the Government’s budget for the coming year. That is under way and we are making the necessary progress on it.

Obviously, that measure will help us to lift children out of poverty. That will not be assisted by some of the speculation that we have heard over the past few days about significant reductions in the welfare budget, which will undoubtedly have the effect of jeopardising the incomes of households in Scotland and, particularly, affect child poverty levels in our country.