Universal Credit - mitigation of the two-child limit: consultation - easy read

Opportunities and challenges

The Scottish Government thinks Universal Credit does not give people enough help. They want to make this better.

The Scottish Government cannot fix all of Universal Credit but can make some parts better.

There are already fixes for the bedroom tax and benefit cap.

The Scottish Government also wants to mitigate the two-child cap.

The Scottish Government has thought about how they can mitigate the two-child cap like:

• Making a new law to make a new benefit.

• Making a payment that reduces as the amount of money someone has increases. This is called a taper.

• Using information from other organisations like His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) or DWP.

The Scottish Government thinks that making a payment which is the same as the Child Element is best.

This child element is worth £287.92 each month just now. In April 2025, this will go up to £292.81.

In future the Scottish Government will review if mitigating the two-child cap is good or needs to be better.

The Scottish Government will use a law that means they can top up UK benefits.

This law is section 79 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018.

This payment can only be made to people who get a UK benefit.

There are rules that mean some people can’t get Universal Credit. This means their benefit cannot be topped up.

There are rules that stops the two-child cap for some people.

The Scottish Government are thinking about how mitigating the two-child cap could work with these rules.

Making sure people know about benefits and how to apply is important.

The Scottish Government wants to make sure it is easy for people to get the payment.

Question 2

Do you agree or disagree that to mitigate the two-child cap, the Scottish Government should use a law (section 79) to top-up Universal Credit?

Answer

Agree Disagree Don’t know

Please give reasons for your answer:

The UK Government and Scottish Government have agreed rules on how Scotland pays for things. This is called the Fiscal Framework.

These rules allow the Scottish Government to pay more money on top of UK benefits.

The Scottish Government thinks mitigation payments should not count as income when calculating benefits.

The Scottish Government is working with the UK Government to agree how this could be done.

Question 3

Do you agree or disagree that the payments to mitigate the two-child cap should not be counted as income by the UK Government?

Answer

Agree Disagree Don’t know

Please give reasons for your answer: