Sheffield Green Councillors have called on the Labour Government to lift the 2 child cap on child benefit in a motion debated at Council on Wednesday. (1)
Greens seconded a motion by Independent Councillor Qais Al- Ahdal who represents the Darnall Ward. Without support from the Greens the lone Independent Councillor would not have been able to submit a motion to the Council.
Broomhill and Sharrow Vale Green Councillor Maleiki Haybe in seconding the motion said,
“I am really pleased to be able to support Councillor Qais Al- Ahdal in his motion. It is consistent with Green Party policy and so it is easy for our group to support it.
“During the General Election the Green Party were clear that we wanted to scrap the 2 Child benefit cap as we know that this would immediately take 250,000 children out of poverty. We challenged the Labour Party to make that same commitment but they wouldn’t.
“The cost of scrapping the cap is around £3.4 Billion per year or about 3% of the total national benefit budget. The benefit of the policy is that it helps the families concerned but also that money generally gets spent in the local economy helping make communities more sustainable.”
“What is disappointing, since the General Election, is that not a single Labour MP from Sheffield voted to support an amendment to the recent King’s Speech which would have removed the two-child benefit limit to Universal Credit. If Labour are not about addressing poverty then what is their purpose? They used to be a progressive party that represented people on lower incomes. Not any longer it seems.”
References
- Agenda for Sheffield City Full Council 4/9/24 Agenda Template (sheffield.gov.uk)
