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Rudd drops plans to extend two-child Universal Credit cap

Amber Rudd has announced that the government will scrap extending its controversial two-child benefits cap for families who had children before April 2017, when the cap came into place.

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Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd
Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd
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Amber Rudd plans to scrap extension of controversial two-child Universal Credit cap #ukhousing

Announcing the U-turn in a speech in Kennington today, the work and pensions secretary said it was “unfair” to apply the cap retrospectively.

Under the previous plans, the cap would have applied to families from February, even if they had more than two children before it was announced. “That is not right,” said Ms Rudd. The change will apply to 15,000 families.

The cap limits the components of the combined benefit payments, which relate to the first and second children only.

The announcement today does not reverse the policy in full, as it will only apply to families who had more than two children before the cap was initiated.


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Ms Rudd said: “Most families make a conscious decision about how many children they have, considering in part their income and the additional costs each child will bring.

“I think it is fair that those on welfare are asked to make the same considered decision as other taxpayers, who support themselves solely through work. So I believe it was right to limit the number of children for whom support can be provided through Universal Credit – funded by the taxpayer.

“However, I believe it is unfair to apply that limit retrospectively. As it stands, from February the two-child limit will be applied to families applying for [Universal Credit] who had their children before the cap was even announced. That is not right.

“So I can today announce that I am going to scrap the extension of the two-child limit on Universal Credit for children born before April 2017.”

Ms Rudd also confirmed the government’s existing plans to now move only 10,000 existing claimants onto the system from July as part of a pilot scheme before proceeding with the roll-out of the policy next year.

Responding to the announcement, Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “We are glad that the government has listened to concerns about the two-child benefit cap. Families with more than two children born before the two-child policy was introduced were unfairly penalised by the cap.”

However, she added: “We must remember that the change to the two-child policy will not apply to families with children born after the cap was introduced in 2017. These families will still be just as vulnerable to falling into poverty as those who are now being exempted. This policy causes real hardship for thousands of people, and we would urge the secretary of state to remove the cap altogether.”

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In December, the charity Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) brought a challenge to the cap to the Court of Appeal, on behalf of two mothers who had both given birth to a third child after the policy came into effect. Both pregnancies were unplanned and the mothers did not wish to pursue a termination.

At the time, Carla Clarke, the solicitor for CPAG, said “The two-child policy singles out some children and denies them support on the arbitrary basis of their birth order.”

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