This consultation seeks views on the Scottish Government’s proposed approach to mitigate the two-child cap policy applied by the UK Government. The two-child cap restricts support through Universal Credit (UC) to the first two children in a family except in some limited circumstances. The consultation paper sets out more fully the proposed approach which intends to deliver mitigation payments at pace and in line with the Scottish social security principles.
The Scottish Government is proposing to mitigate the two-child cap in Scotland by making a flat-rate payment equal to the UC child element for each third and subsequent child in Scotland.
Mitigation of the two-child cap is not a straightforward task. It will require significant policy and technical work to develop and implement an appropriate solution. This includes co-operation from the UK Government around systems development, data sharing and legislation. The technical delivery of the mitigation must carefully consider risks, issues and dependencies such as data sharing with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The Social Security Programme has commenced the ‘discovery’ phase of the project, which will impact delivery options, including joint work with DWP to agree, build and test additional data sharing functions and create a joint delivery plan.
The responses to this consultation, alongside the outputs of that discovery process, will inform the Scottish Government’s approach to drafting the legislation that will be necessary to deliver the payments.
The consultation can be found at https://consult.gov.scot/social-security/mitigation-of-the-two-child-cap-consultation/.
Closing date for responses is 18 April 2025.
This consultation sets out proposals to expand the reach of the Warm Home Discount Scheme by removing the high-cost-to-heat threshold in the current Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2022 (for winter 2025 to 2026) and increasing the level of spend available in Scotland for suppliers to allocate through the Broader Group. All households in receipt of means-tested benefits would then be eligible to receive the £150 rebate.
Additionally, it proposes to extend the Park Homes Warm Home Discount scheme to include other individuals without a direct relationship with an energy supplier while maintaining the current budget.
The consultation seeks input from consumers, consumer groups and charities, Warm Home Dis
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