Lincolnshire leaders offer their views on the two child benefit cap
Lincolnshire leaders have weighed in on the debate about whether the two-child benefit cap should be scrapped.
Key political figures on Lincolnshire County Council have shared their views on the policy, which prevents most families from claiming means-tested benefits for more than their first two children born after April 2017.
Labour ministers are now said to be considering ending the cap.
Coun Natalie Oliver, the new Reform UK executive member for Children’s Services at Lincolnshire County Council, described scrapping the cap as just one of the measures needed to support families.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "Whilst the Conservative and Labour governments have sought to deal with this country's collapsing birth rate and ageing population through open-door immigration, a Reform government would do all it could to give British couples the financial support they need to have children.
"We'd do this through scrapping the two-child benefit cap, and introducing a 25% transferable marriage tax allowance, meaning no tax on the first £25,000 of income for either spouse.
"This would be the right thing to do to support British families who want children but are worried that they simply cannot afford to. Strong family units are imperative in giving children the best start in life and we must do all we can to help to reduce pressure so that British families can grow and thrive."
Labour group leader and former Lincoln MP Karen Lee also supported the idea of scrapping the cap, citing the number of children living in poverty in Lincoln and across the county.
She said: "I would be very pleased to see the cap lifted. I have to prioritise things and lifting children out of poverty would be top of that list."
In 2022/23, the percentage of children living in poverty reached 30% in Boston, Lincoln and East Lindsey. Rates were 24% in South Holland and West Lindsey, and 19% in South Kesteven.
However, Coun Richard Davies, the new leader of the Lincolnshire Conservatives, said he agreed with his national party leadership and defended the cap.
"The question you have to ask yourself, if you remove the cap, why are parents who are going out to work subsidising families where they don’t work? That seems remarkably unfair," he said.
"By removing the benefit cap, you are not incentivising the right thing," he added. "If your concern is population decline, let’s make having children less expensive."
In a blog post, Coun Davies referred to Reform's call to scrap the policy as "lazy" and "vote chasing" that is ultimately "wrong for Lincolnshire".
"Recklessly expanding the welfare state is not the answer to Britain’s demographic crisis. It’s not sustainable. And it certainly won’t work here," he wrote.
Coun Phil Dilks, leader of the Independents on Lincolnshire County Council, described it as a matter for government and said it was not an area he had explored in detail.
However, he said he hopes that "when the economy allows" the cap would be dropped.
At a conference on Tuesday, May 27, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage pledged to scrap the cap and reverse the changes to the winter fuel allowance, which the Labour government controversially cut last year.
Asked by Sky News Breakfast whether the cap should be lifted, the Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities Bridget Phillipson said: "It's not off the table. It's certainly something that we're considering."
Meanwhile, Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, defended the cap. Also speaking to Sky News, she said: "We cannot afford to scrap it. People know that the two-child benefit cap is there for a good reason, and there are many people out there who say, 'If you can't afford to have lots of children, then you shouldn't do so.'"
