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CPAG Low-Income families eBulletin

  • Jan 16
  • 5 min read

Mark Willis from Child Poverty Action Group shares the latest CPAG in Scotland e-bulletin on Advising Low-Income Families. This is sample from one of the range of free e-Bulletin's that CPAG circulate to advisers in Scotland and you can sign up these and explore all their resources at Support for Advisers in Scotland



Advising low-income families eBulletin January 2026

Dear colleague,


Welcome to the latest e-bulletin from CPAG in Scotland's service supporting those working with low-income families in Scotland, including lone parents, young parents, low-paid workers, and families affected by violence or imprisonment. See our website for more information.


In this issue:

  • Abolition of two-child limit

  • Benefit cap

  • Child benefit

  • NEW Financial Help for Families: What You Need to Know

  • Training


Abolition of two child limit

The UK government announced in the November 2025 Budget that the ‘two-child limit’ will be removed from April 2026. The two-child limit currently means that a child element (£292.81 a month) is not payable for children born on or after 6 April 2017 where there are already two or more children included in the universal credit (UC) award. There are exceptions for multiple births, adoption, non-parental caring arrangements and non-consensual conception.


From April 2026, the two-child limit will be completely removed, so that a child element is payable for all children for whom the claimant is responsible. It will no longer be necessary to fall into any of the exceptions. Families already getting UC should not need to apply but should check that all their children are recorded on their UC journal. Some families whose income was previously just too high to qualify for UC may qualify from April. As a result of the abolition of the two-child limit at UK level, the Scottish Government is not now going ahead with its planned mitigation payment.


Remember the two-child limit has never applied to child benefit, Scottish child payment, Best Start grants or Best Start foods.


Benefit cap

A separate policy, ‘the benefit cap’, is not being abolished. The benefit cap limits the total monthly amount of UC a family can receive, and often affects families with three or more children, especially if they are in rented accommodation. The benefit cap is frozen from April 2026, so more families will be affected by it when other benefit rates increase. The removal of the two-child limit may mean that families affected by the benefit cap do not receive an increase in their UC in full.


Families with three or more children should:

  • Make sure that all their children have been recorded on their UC claim so that the additional child element(s) become payable.

  • Be aware that the additional child element may mean that they are affected by the benefit cap if total UC and child benefit (and some other benefits such as JSA, ESA, maternity allowance) adds up to more than £1,835 a month.

  • Check if they are exempt from the benefit cap – it does not apply to families in work (earning over monthly equivalent of 16 hours a week at the ‘national living wage’) or where an adult or child is in receipt of a disability benefit, or carer support payment, carer element, or the limited capability for work-related activity element.

  • Apply for a discretionary housing payment from their local authority if they are affected by the benefit cap. The Scottish Government intends that this should mitigate the benefit cap, but it can only be paid to households who are liable for rent, not, for example, owner-occupiers or people living with extended family.


See gov.uk/benefit-cap for more information.


Child benefit

Since 1 September 2025, the Child Benefit Regulations were amended to:

  • remove the requirement that education being provided to a young person outside a school or college must have begun before the young person turned 16;

  • allow a young person to be treated as being in ‘full-time education’ where they are participating in non-advanced education for 12 hours or less a week due to an illness or disability.


These changes do not apply to UC. For UC purposes, education must be provided at a school, college or elsewhere approved by the Secretary of State, and the average time spent receiving tuition, engaging in practical work or supervised study or taking examinations must exceed 12 hours a week during term time.


For more information on the differences between child benefit and UC child element, there is an article for CPAG subscribers on CPAG Welfare Rights.


NEW Financial Help for Families: what you need to know

This handy new book from CPAG covers all the main social security benefits for families with children available throughout the UK, as well as different payments only available in Scotland. It also highlights other important financial support including child maintenance and help with school costs, such as free school meals.


Training

A reminder we have the following introductory courses coming up in the next month with availability to book:


Payments for children in Scotland
Tuesday 10 February 2026 10am - 1pm online

This course gives you an overview of benefit support for families in Scotland from pregnancy to school-leaving age. It covers the interaction between UK-wide universal credit and child benefit, and other support only available in Scotland, such as Scottish child payment and Best Start.


This course is aimed at advisers and support workers who have little or no knowledge of benefits.


The course covers:

  • An overview of payments for children in Scotland

  • Who can get Scottish child payment

  • Who can get Best Start grant and Best Start foods

  • UK-wide payments for children; child benefit and universal credit

  • Help with childcare and the costs of the school day


Care-experienced young people and the benefits system
Wednesday 28 January 2026 10am - 1pm online

Many young people who have been ‘looked after’ by the local authority are affected by special social security rules. Some are excluded from universal credit and instead the local authority is responsible for supporting them. Some are entitled to a ‘care-experienced bursary’. This course looks at the special benefit rules for this group of young people and provides the opportunity to consider other support available.


The course covers:

  • The special benefit rules affecting 16 and 17-year-olds leaving care and in continuing care, including young people who have been living with kinship carers

  • Local authorities’ powers and responsibilities towards care-experienced young people

  • Universal credit and care-experienced young people

  • The care-experienced bursary and its interaction with the social security system

  • Other help available to care-experienced young people



Other available CPAG in Scotland eBulltin's include:


View all the resources for advisers in Scotland at:


For more information please contact Mark Willis at mwillis@cpagscotland.org.uk or reach out to the Advice line for advisers


 
 
 

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