Council backs Lib Dem call to end two-child benefit cap

Lib Dem councillor Michael Lilley has won backing from Isle of Wight councillors urging the government to end the controversial two-child benefit cap.

The Two Child limit to benefit payments was introduced by the Conservative Government in 2017 and is supported by the current Labour Government. It prevents families from claiming Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit for more than two children in the household. 

In his motion to Full Council on 19 March 2025,  Councillor Michael Lilley noted recent research conducted by the End Child Poverty Coalition which found that: 

• 1.5 million children in the UK live in households subject to the two-child limit on benefit payments. That is roughly one-in-ten children in the UK.
• In 2023/24 the two-child limit cost families up to £3,235 per child each year.
• There is a strong correlation between families affected by the two-child limit and those who are living in poverty.
• Scrapping the two-child limit would lift 250,000 children out of poverty overnight, and significantly reduce the level of poverty that a further 850,000 children live in, including IOW children.  
• Scrapping the two-child limit would cost £1.3 billion, however it is estimated that child poverty costs the economy £39 billion each year. 

Michael also highlighted that the recently approved Isle of Wight Poverty Reduction Strategy set out that:

• In 2014 to 2015, 29.7 per cent of children were living in poverty on the Island. In 2021 to 2022 it had increased to 34.2 per cent.
• There has been a 33 per cent increase on the Island in the use of foodbanks between 2022 and 2023 (1,871 households).
• 1,475 Island residents rely on food pantries just to make ends meet.
• A third of IOW households with children are on universal credit. Half of those are affected by a deduction to repay debt.  25 per cent of Island children are eligible for free school meals.

Councillors backed Michael's call that Isle of Wight Council acknowledge that Island children living in poverty would benefit from the scrapping by the Government of the two-child limit to payments and to take the following action:

1. Request the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Prime Minister outlining IW Council’s strong belief that the two-child limit to benefit payments should be scrapped – which would help more Island children out of poverty.
2. Request the Chief Executive on behalf of council to write to all of Isle of Wight’s MPs, asking them to commit their public support to the campaign to end the two child limit to benefit payments.
3. Ensure the number of children a family has is considered when any support is given out by the council.
4. Explore ways to support families impacted by the two-child limit across the Island, including through free school meals and community capacity resilience, HSF and other grant funds as part of the IW Council’s approved anti-poverty strategy.