Sheffield Green Councillors today welcomed the lifting of the 2 child benefit cap announced in the Chancellor’s Budget Statement today.
Broomhill and Sharrow Vale Councillor Maleiki Haybe said,
“ It is very welcome news that the 2 child benefit cap has been lifted and it is a decision that is well overdue,
“We knew the campaign was won just a few days ago when Labour Mayors across Yorkshire, including South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard, belatedly called for a lifting of the cap . They wouldn’t have done that if they hadn’t been ‘tipped the wink’ and been given permission to make a statement by the Government.
“All credit to the anti-poverty campaigners who have fought a tenacious campaign since the cap was introduced by the Conservative Government in 2017 and maintained by the Labour Government for 16 months till today’s announcement. The Green Party has long called for the cap to be lifted and so welcome this bending to public pressure by the Chancellor. (2)
“630,000 children could be lifted out of poverty by lifting the cap but we need clarity over whether the overall benefits cap will also be lifted. This is currently set at £22,000. If it isn’t lifted 1 in 10 households currently affected by the cap will see no benefit at all and these children will be kept in poverty through political choice.”
