Oral Answers to Questions

Munira Wilson Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the Minister for his question—[Interruption.] Honestly, I am still getting used to being on this side of the House.

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that jobcentres everywhere need to be locally responsive to employers, and that we need to provide an excellent service to local employers. If he has further thoughts on how we can make that work in his constituency, I would be very happy to discuss it with him.

[Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)]

9. What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of removing the two-child limit for universal credit.

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

The last Labour Government dramatically reduced child poverty, and we want to repeat their success. The child poverty taskforce is exploring how to harness all available levers, including social security reform, and it will publish its strategy next spring.

[Munira Wilson]

The Prime Minister has said that he wants to break down the barriers to opportunity and tackle child poverty. He has also said that

“insecurity is the enemy of opportunity.”

Given that by the time the child poverty taskforce reports next spring, a further 16,000 children will have been dragged into poverty, and given the devastating impact that poverty can have on a child’s education, their health and their vulnerability to the criminal justice system, why will the Minister not do the right thing and scrap the two-child benefit cap to lift 300,000 children out of poverty immediately?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

The strategy will be very clear about how we will tackle the scourge of child poverty, and the hon. Lady is absolutely right to highlight the importance of doing that. Labour voted against the two-child limit, but we will not promise change until we know how we are going to pay for it. That will be addressed in the work of the taskforce, with the results published in the spring.