Scottish Tories vow two-child limit for Scottish Child Payment and refuse to rule out rape clause

Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay announced the plan as part of a package of measures the party believes will save more than £1 billion from the Scottish Government’s “out of control” spending on social security, which it is estimated could reach £10bn a year by 2030.

Mr Findlay said the savings would go directly to paying for cuts to income tax the Scottish Conservatives have previously tabled including raising thresholds, including at the upper rates and bring them in line with the rest of the UK by the end of the next session of parliament.

The proposals would introduce new assessments for those claiming benefits on mental health grounds with the Tories committing to end “light-touch reviews” of benefit recipients’ payments, arguing people should no longer be able to “just tick a box to stay on benefits”.

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Face-to-face reviews would be brought in for some claimants, with people asked to prove they still meet the criteria for payments.

The party estimates that a two-child cap to the Scottish Government’s flagship Scottish Child Payment would save £73m a year. The devolved benefit has never had a limit on the number of children that are eligible.

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The benefit is poised to increase with inflation to £28.20 a week from April, while SNP Finance Secretary Shona Robison has tabled a £40 a week top-up for children under one in her draft Budget. The payment has been seen as a key reason why levels of child poverty have reduced quicker in Scotland than other parts of the UK.

But Mr Findlay claimed that research into the payment “found that there are parents right now who are choosing to work fewer hours, not work altogether or in some cases, turning down pay rises.

He added: “Quite clearly the system isn’t working and we think this is a fair and reasonable way of going about reducing the bill.”

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Meanwhile, Mr Findlay left the door open for the hated rape clause to be reintroduced, which would require mothers to fill in demeaning paperwork for an exemption if their child was conceived as a result of rape or while in a coercive or abusive relationship.

Asked if that exemption policy could make a return in his proposals, Mr Findlay said: “The policy would be as we have stated it today, but the consultation process would inevitably take into account sensitive issues of that nature.

“I wouldn’t want to pre-empt that. That’s a very seriously important thing to look at.”

The Tories also propose to open a benefit fraud unit within Social Security Scotland – the organisation responsible for devolved benefits such as the Scottish child payment and adult disability payment.

The Scottish Conservatives’ social security spokesperson, Alexander Stewart, claimed that there are “potentially hundreds of cases” of benefit fraud and errors.

“We have calculated that the error and the fraud estimate to about £458m”, he added.

John Dickie, director of Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, said the Scottish Child Payment provided “a vital lifeline for parents”.

He added: It has been highly effective at reducing poverty, preventing deprivation, tackling food insecurity, as well as supporting parents into and in work.

“ The evidence is clear the Scottish Child Payment is not having a negative impact on labour market participation at any scale, and we know from UK experience that introducing a two-child limit to vital social security support does nothing but drive children into poverty.

“We urge all parties to continue to support investment in the payment for each child to prevent the poverty that so badly damages children and undermines our economic future."

Chris Birt, Joseph Rowntree Foundation associate director for Scotland, said: “When it was applied at a UK level, the main impact of the two-child limit was to force children into poverty as a result of them having brothers and sisters.

“Introducing it in Scotland for the Scottish Child Payment would cause avoidable hardship.”

First Minister John Swinney told The Scotsman he was "almost speechless" by Mr Findlay being unable to rule out the reintroduction of the rape clause.

He added: "I couldn't believe a concept such as the rape clause had been introduced in the first place. The fact it was sustained for so long, I found unimaginable and inconceivable.

"I think what Russell Findlay has demonstrated is that they want to turn the clock back and they would undermine my efforts to reduce child poverty."