LABOUR are reportedly delaying the release of a major investigation into child poverty for political reasons because it will recommend scrapping a flagship Tory welfare policy.
The UK Government’s child poverty taskforce will call for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped, according to The Times.
But ministers have reportedly stalled the taskforce announcing its findings because of political difficulties, the paper reports.
However, a senior Department for Work and Pensions source told The National that no decisions have been made on scrapping the policy and work on the taskforce remains ongoing.
The taskforce’s report has been repeatedly delayed though it is still expected to be published before the Budget on November 26.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s (below) self-imposed fiscal rules mean that she will need to plug a £20-£30 billion “black hole” in the public finances and the cost of lifting the two-child cap is estimated at around £3bn.
The policy was introduced by the Tories in 2017 to limit the amount of child benefit families could claim and pushes thousands of families into poverty each year.
Experts and anti-poverty charities have said repeatedly that lifting the cap would be one of the most effective ways of reducing child poverty in the UK, however Labour have previously ruled out axing the policy.
The Times reports that the child poverty taskforce which Labour commissioned last year has already drawn up its findings, with the number one recommendation being to scrap the two-child cap.
It is a majorly contentious issue within the Labour Party, with a vote forced by the SNP on the policy shortly after last year’s General Election resulting in the suspension of a number of Labour MPs who voted against the Government to support calls to scrap it.
The taskforce has also undergone change in its composition since it was formed in July last year.
It was initially headed by Liz Kendall in her former role as work and pensions secretary. She was demoted in Keir Starmer’s reshuffle at the beginning of this month after failing to guide cuts to disability benefit cuts through the Commons in the face of a major backbench rebellion.
Pat McFadden (above) is the new Work and Pensions Secretary and the co-chair of the child poverty taskforce. He said on Wednesday that he was “concerned about the levels of child poverty in the country” and would not rule out the Prime Minister making an announcement at Labour conference, which kicks off on Sunday.
But he added: “Everything has to be paid for, everything has to be budgeted.”
The taskforce is also led by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who is running to be Labour’s deputy leader. She said earlier this week that “tackling child poverty is my number one priority”, adding that two-child limit has to be "on the table as a part of that discussion” and that she was “pushing with everything I have to make sure we’re doing what we have to do to tackle child poverty”.
Last week Phillipson called the cap “spiteful”, adding that it had “punished and pushed children into hardship”.
Child poverty in the UK is, at 4.5 million, at record levels and rising by more than 100 people per day. The Government has refused to publish its internal forecasts which show a big rise by the end of this parliament, according to The Times.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “We are working closely with and supporting the Scottish Government to mitigate the two-child limit in Scotland through the largest real terms settlement in the history of devolution.
“The Government is determined to bring down child poverty. We’ve already uprated benefits, increased the national minimum wage and are supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions.
“We will publish an ambitious child poverty strategy later this year to ensure we deliver fully-funded measures that tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty across the country.”
