Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice two child cap mitigation claim in committee: FOI release

Information requested

1. Confirmation of whether or not the Scottish Government has revealed through FOI or a PQ the specific time and date the decision to mitigate the two-child cap was taken.

If so, please reveal a copy of the FOI answer or PQ answer that does this.

2. Confirmation of whether or not the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice is correct to assert that the Scottish Government has revealed the date and time the decision was taken.

Please refer to whatever document or answer supports this claim they made in committee.

3. For the sake of backing up what the Cabinet Secretary has claimed, that the question put to her by Paul O’Kane has already been answered, please reveal the official date and time the decision was taken by the Scottish Government to mitigate the two-child cap.

Response

In response to your request, please find a link below to a published FOI request which asked for the time and date the decision to mitigate the two-child cap was taken:

Mitigation of 2 child benefit cap queries: FOI Review - gov.scot

A Parliamentary Question was received from Paul O'Kane on 09/04/25 asking the following:

"To ask the Scottish Government, further to the comments by the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee on 5 December 2024, on what date and at what time the official ministerial decision to mitigate the two-child limit was recorded in its electronic Records and Document Management system, and who made that decision."

Please find the response to this below:

"The decision to mitigate the effect of the two-child cap was taken following discussions in Government in advance of the draft budget publication on 5 December 2024. This decision was subsequently recorded and stored in the Electronic Records and Data Management System in accordance with records management requirements."

I would also refer you to the recent FOI request you submitted, reference 202500465197.

In response to point 3 in your request, an exemption under section 29(1)(a) of FOISA (formulation or development of government policy) applies to some of the information requested because it relates to the formulation/development of the Scottish Government’s policy on the mitigation of the two-child limit.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is a public interest in disclosing information as part of open, transparent and accountable government, and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in high quality policy and decision-making, and in the properly considered implementation and development of policies and decisions.

This means that Ministers and officials need to be able to consider all available options and to debate those rigorously, to fully understand their possible implications. Their candour in doing so will be affected by their assessment of whether the discussions on the mitigation of the two-child limit will be disclosed in the near future, when it may undermine or constrain the Government’s view on that policy while it is still under discussion and development.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.