Law Centre NI statement following the UK Government's Autumn Budget 2025

“Law Centre NI welcomes the UK Government’s commitment in the Autumn Budget 2025 to remove the two-child limit from April 2026. This is a significant and much needed action that will lift many households across Northern Ireland out of poverty. We are encouraged to see this progress.

As a Regional Support Advice Organisation and Convenor of the Cliff Edge Coalition, Law Centre NI is acutely aware that the two-child limit has been a contributing factor to deepening poverty levels across Northern Ireland and therefore this removal has been the focus of our policy advocacy and campaigning. Law Centre NI and the Cliff Edge Coalition have long campaigned for a fair, robust, and adequately resourced social security system—a safety net that protects everyone in times of need.

The commitment to remove this policy is a significant step forward in the bid to eradicate poverty in Northern Ireland; Trussell has calculated that the removal of this policy ‘would bring benefits of around £155 million, and lift 18,500 people out of severe hardship, by 2026/27’ in this jurisdiction [1]. Ending this harmful policy will transform outcomes for vulnerable children and families, alleviating the severe pressures caused by poverty and enabling households to meet their basic needs with dignity.

Today we welcome this commitment and thank our local elected representatives for their support in removing the two-child limit. We continue to campaign for the UK Government to remove the Benefit Cap; in the meantime, we thank the Northern Ireland Executive for continuing to mitigate the benefit cap for claimants in Northern Ireland. We look forward to ongoing engagement with elected representatives, officials, and stakeholders as we continue to work together to build a social security system that truly meets the needs of people across Northern Ireland.”

1. Trussell, hunger_in_northern_ireland_220925.pdf