By james art Councilors have been locked in a heated debate over the impact of the two-child benefit cap on families in County Durham.
The county council’s Liberal Democrat group put a motion before councilors urging them to back calls to remove the two-child limit on benefit payments. He also asked the council to write to MPs in County Durham encouraging them to support the application.
The policy means that most families can only receive benefits for their first two children, with a few exceptions. The cap came into effect in 2017 and was among changes to the benefits system announced by the Conservative Party.
“If you care about child poverty, there’s no better way to do it than to lift the cap,” Lib Dem councilor Craig Martin, for the North Lodge ward, told a full council meeting this week.
“It’s not fair to punish a child and subject them to entrenched poverty because of the parents’ perceived failings.” We need to support the needs of children instead of publishing the whole family.
But members of the opposition Labor Party criticized the application and said it did not go far enough to tackle the region’s child poverty problems.
Councilor Angela Surtees replied: “This proposal is ridiculous.
“You and your party are to blame. Since 2010, the Conservative/Liberal Democrat government has introduced these measures, and you have supported an increase in child poverty of over 13 per cent across the country in the last 14 years.
“This proposal affects only a small number of families in poverty. Your proposal completely misses the point of child poverty.
Instead, the Easington councilor suggested the council should write to the Government to ask how it could support and deliver the new Child Poverty Strategy Plan and work with the North East Combined Authority. The Labor MP told the Joint Administration in charge of the council to “put their money where their mouth is” and work with local authorities and the Government to tackle child poverty.
Supporting the amendment, Curtis Bihari, of Ferryhill, said: “As someone who grew up in one of the poorest towns in the county, to sit here and listen to members opposite trying to lecture me about tackling child poverty is not nothing but insulting. Your parties are responsible for this.
And Labour’s deputy leader, cllr Rob Crutt, questioned the rationale behind the Liberal Democrat request. He said: “This policy has been in place since 2017 so why has it taken Councilor Martin seven years to raise this issue? Why is he sitting on his hands and conscience? What has changed since 2017 to cause this sudden outburst of moral outrage? To me it looks like nothing but expediency and opportunism.”
Liberal Democrat members said the Tory policy was not supported by their party and they were not in power when it was implemented. Councilor Mark Wilkes said Labour’s amendment “doesn’t really do anything” and noted how local authorities support families.
Recommended reading:
Subscribe to The Northern Echo now.
He said: “This council has recently changed the policy to automatically enroll pupils on free school meals. We support low income families with one of the only full council tax reduction schemes in the region.
“The Labor amendment is completely unacceptable. I see no legitimate reason why anyone would not support removing the two-child limit.”
But despite support from Lib Dems, Conservatives and independent members, Labour’s amendment was passed and approved.