North East Mayor Kim McGuinness backs ending two-child benefit cap

The plan, said to the biggest drive of its kind in England, is aimed at improving the lives of 120,000 babies, children and young people growing up below the breadline in our region.

The £28.6 package includes expanding a grant to cover childcare costs currently being trialled in County Durham, a new ‘health in pregnancy’ grant for expectant mothers on low incomes or Universal Credit, funding baby boxes filled with essentials for first-time families, and launching a ‘warm homes taskforce’ to retrofit homes and make them easier to heat.

But Ms McGuinness made a clear message to the Government that ending the controversial two-child benefit cap would have a “massive positive difference”.

Speaking on a visit to the Chowdene Family Hub in Gateshead, the Mayor, who serves County Durham, Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, said: “Tackling child poverty is my number one priority.

Kim McGuinness. (Image: NECA) “These initiatives will make a real difference to families’ day to day lives whether its about access to the physical things they need when they’ve got a new baby, cash in the third trimester so that they can access healthy food and the support they need, and then childcare is a huge issue for a lot of families it keeps them out of work or under-employed.

“We know we need national change and I will keep pushing for that, and we’ve had some successes in recent weeks with Government announcing the expansion of free school meals to all of those on Universal Credit, breakfast clubs, and £500m to support young people with activities.

“I have concerns the government might not be able to lift the cap.

“Against the backdrop we’re against now with a third of children in our region growing up in poverty, we know that it would make a massive positive difference for them to do so.

“So I think it’s the right thing, but I have to let national government get on with running the country while we make the difference locally.

“I’ll keep talking to government and keep showing them what we’re doing in the region which I think can be transformational and making my views clear.”

According to the North East Child Poverty Commission 170,000 children here were living in poverty in 2023/24. About 120,000 of those are estimated to be in the North East Combined Authority area.

The Northern Echo called on politicians to prioritise action to lift youngsters out of deprivation in our Manifesto ahead of of last year’s General Election backed by Labour.

But in government Labour has so far refused to commit to ending the two-child cap.

It’s Child Poverty Task Force was due to unveil its recommendations on tackling the issue in the spring, but is now expected to report in the autumn.

Meanwhile, the Mayor ruled out setting a target for how many children she hoped would be lifted out of poverty with the near-£29m plan, but said: “As long as there are kids growing up without what they need, it’s just not good enough.

“What I’ll never do is set a target that says ‘oh I want to see a 50 per cent or 20 per cent improvement’.

“I know I will not be able to stand up in 2028 and say ‘we’ve ended child poverty’, however, it will always be our regional goal to end child poverty.

“For me a personal success measure will be a change in the nature of conversations I have with parents.

“I talk to families, parents, mams and they talk about the choices they make between food and shoes, and food and heating, and it’s just heartbreaking. It shouldn’t be like that.

“So yes, while we want to see a real material difference in the number of families growing up in poverty and I’m desperate to see that, what I want to see is the change in the nature of those conversations.”

Funding for the £28.6m plan was signed-off during the North East Combined Authority’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday (July 22) afternoon, with the Mayor and leaders of all seven of the region’s local councils.

Beth Farhat and Kim McGuinness (centre). (Image: NECA) Beth Farhat, chair of the North East Child Poverty Commission said: “Child poverty is not only damaging the development and future prospects of tens of thousands of children, it is holding the whole of the North East back.

“If a child has what they need when they’re born in order to be safe a looked after, if we can get woman back to work through supporting them with childcare, if we can get more money into families’ pockets, and if we can have an affordable transport system that allows young people to get to school or college and back but also enjoy the summer holidays cheaply, that’s great.

“But the big policy lever and the one that everyone’s talking about is the lifting of the two-child benefit cap. There are 20,000 families in the North East affected by it. That’s 70,000 children.”

North East Chamber of Commerce chief exec John McCabe branded the plan a “vital commitment to tackling one of our region’s most pressing challenges”.

He added: “Reducing child poverty is not just the right thing to do, it is essential to the long-term success of our economy and the wellbeing of our communities.”