Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has held discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential impact of the continuation of the two-child benefit cap on the (a) physical and (b) mental health of children in families affected by the cap.

This Government is determined to bring down child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce will publish a Child Poverty Strategy in the autumn that will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is a member of the Taskforce, which is co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. To date, Taskforce Ministers and their delegates have met nine times to discuss the critical issues that drive child poverty.

The Child Poverty Taskforce is hearing directly from families and children across the UK as part of its work to develop a Child Poverty Strategy, as well as front-line staff and leading campaigners, charities and organisations. The Taskforce is also working closely with local and devolved governments to hear how child poverty affects communities and what can be done to combat it.