EXCLUSIVE: Keir Starmer’s Government is refusing to say how many households have been hit until after the Holyrood poll in May.
Keir Starmer
Figures on the number of Scots punished by the two child benefit cap will not be published until after the Holyrood election.
The Labour Government claims there is a “public interest” in releasing the information at a “time of their own choosing”.
SNP MP Kirsty Blackman said: “The Labour government must release these figures without delay, so there can be full transparency ahead of the UK budget – particularly given it is already backpedaling on plans to fully scrap the two child cap.
“The truth is, child poverty in the UK is higher than it’s ever been and unless Keir Starmer takes urgent action millions of children will remain in poverty.”
Introduced by the previous Tory Government, the cap limits some means-tested benefits to the first two children.
Labour has kept the curb on the grounds of cost, but reports have suggested the Government may partially lift the policy at the Budget.
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OPINION
Paul Hutcheon
Statistics show 26,800 households on universal credit in Scotland were affected by the cap after Labour’s first month in charge in 2024.
The Record asked for the July 2025 figure and the Government confirmed holding the data.
In a response to a freedom of information request, they refused to provide the figures despite admitting publication would provide greater transparency:
“When considering arguments against disclosure, there is a strong public interest in permitting public authorities, such as DWP, to publish information in a manner and form and at a time of their own choosing.
“It is a part of the effective conduct of public affairs that the general publication of information is a conveniently planned and managed activity within the reasonable control of public authorities.”
The DWP said the information would be handed over in the middle of next year – after the Holyrood election:
“Therefore, in this instance the Department has a reasonable entitlement to make its own arrangements to publish information. In this case, as part of our regular annual statistics release, next scheduled for Summer 2026.”
Green MSP Maggie Chapman said: “This is yet another cynical move by the UK Labour government that is all too aware of the pain it is inflicting on families all across the country yet chooses to do it anyway.
“Keir Starmer promised change but the reality is that he and his Cabinet have kept and built on many of the worst Tory policies.
“The two child cap is one of the cruellest parts of a system that is designed to degrade, punish and humiliate people. It is no wonder that Labour would rather hide the human cost until after the election.
“Scotland deserves so much better than this. Anas Sarwar and his Scottish Labour MSPs need to take a stand against this kind of political game playing and join us in calling for this terrible cap to be scrapped for good.”
SNP Ministers last year announced they would scrap the two child cap by making compensatory payments to affected families from spring 2026.
However, campaigners want to see the cap abolished across the UK. Reports have claimed the Labour Government is considering a tapered system as a form of phased abolition.
Ideas being explored include expanding benefits to the third and fourth kids in a family, or making payments more generous for their first child.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has blasted the cap as “spiteful” while Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander has branded the limit as “wrong”.
Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has suggested a super tax on profits by online gambling firms could fund abolition of the cap.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not mention the cap in his Labour conference speech, but he is understood to be sympathetic to getting rid of the Tory-era curb.
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