The Scottish and Welsh governments have jointly called on the UK chancellor to scrap the benefit cap, the bedroom tax and the freeze on local housing allowance ahead of next week's Budget.
Scottish social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville and Welsh deputy first minister Sioned Williams sent a joint letter to UK ministers on Tuesday, urging the UK Government to end the benefit cap and the so-called bedroom tax, as well as to lift the freeze on local housing allowance and provide targeted discounts on household bills.
Chancellor John Healey will lay his first budget on Wednesday, October 28.
Joint call to end poverty-driving measures
The two ministers said: "Collectively we have welcomed the end of the two-child limit across the UK from April 2026. This is a critical step forward which is helping to ease the burden on families across the UK, but it is not enough on its own to break the cycle of poverty."
"The benefit cap, bedroom tax and young parent penalty are all driving hardship among households across the country and should be removed in the forthcoming Budget. The combined impact of these measures drives thousands of families into the deepest forms of hardship, pushing them further from support and toward emergency provision including foodbanks."
Local housing allowance and child poverty strategy
The letter also urges the government to end the freeze on local housing allowance – which dictates how much in benefits can be received towards people's rent – while setting out a plan to increase it to cover 50% of all private rents over time.
Ms Williams said: "Tackling poverty is a priority for this Welsh Government, and we are addressing it in a number of ways including expanded funded childcare, and delivering a new child poverty strategy with meaningful targets."
"While we are taking firm action wherever we can, we need the UK Government to play its part and our joint letter with the Scottish Government calls for a clear set of actions to support us in tackling child poverty. This is not only about those levers which remain with the UK Government but also about supporting us to effectively use our own powers."
"An example of this is the Cynnal child payment in Wales. This can only succeed with the co-operation of the UK Government to ensure that those receiving the payment are not penalised by having their entitlement to other benefits reduced, allowing children and families to receive the maximum possible support. I call on the UK Government now to work with us and give us the assurance that we can make a real difference with this scheme."
"Introducing a social tariff is also key, and I join colleagues across UK in calling for this to be introduced urgently. In many areas such as this it is the UK Government who can make the difference and the budget is the opportunity to do this for families in Wales and across the UK."
Scottish child payment and call for more powers
Ms Somerville said: "Scotland and Wales are clear – we need to see far more from the UK Government to support people with the cost of living and to support us in our efforts to end child poverty."
"The Scottish and Welsh governments are also clear that we need more action from the UK Budget to support our work on child poverty – that includes ending the cruel benefit cap which is punishing children for circumstances beyond their control. This has never been more pressing, with DWP's own data showing that the number of Scottish children impacted doubled to nearly 20,000 between March and May this year."
"Our game-changing Scottish child payment shows the innovative and ambitious policies we can implement where we have the power. It shows why we need more powers in Scotland and Wales, rather than seeing them hoarded by the UK Government. The UK Government must now take action in their budget to cut bills and boost living standards and if they will not, they should hand the powers over to a Scottish Government that would."
