December 2025

The Labour Government has launched a landmark Child Poverty Strategy which is projected to lift more than half a million children out of poverty by 2030.

Central to the plan is the scrapping of the two-child limit, a change estimated to benefit over 2,400 children in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland and more than 20,000 across the wider Tees Valley. The majority (60%) are in working families.

Combined with expanded free school meals, new support for childcare costs and investment in family services, the strategy will raise household incomes for over seven million children nationwide.

These changes build on progress made over the past year on child poverty, including:

• the rollout of free breakfast clubs to 750 state schools, including local primaries Pennyman, Skelton, St Bernadette’s and Lockwood, funded by closing tax breaks for private schools
• the expansion of free school meal eligibility to all families on Universal Credit, which will benefit up to 4,770 children in Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland
• Locally, Labour Redcar & Cleveland and Middlesbrough councils’ new auto-enrolment scheme for free school meals.

Speaking about the auto-enrolment scheme, Labour Cllr Bill Suthers, cabinet member for children and families, said it was having a “big, positive impact” for many hundreds of families.

Luke Myer MP has campaigned on child poverty throughout his career. He fundraised for Redcar & Cleveland Foodbank during the pandemic, delivered Redcar & Cleveland’s Child Poverty Strategy as a councillor, and called for national action. Since becoming an MP, he has pressed the Chancellor to scrap the two-child limit and backed a targeted levy on online gambling to fund the change fairly.

The Chancellor has confirmed the reform will be fully funded through measures tackling fraud, tax avoidance and online gambling taxation, protecting working families from additional cost.

Luke Myer MP said:

“This strategy will be transformative for Teesside. Ending the two child limit is a fair and practical step that will lift thousands of children in our region out of hardship. Too many working families in Teesside have been left struggling despite doing everything right. This strategy starts to put that right. It is an investment in children’s futures and in the long term health of our communities, and I am proud to have played a part in pressing for this change.”

Beth Farhat, chair of the North East Child Poverty Commission, said:

“Today is a really important moment. To see the first UK wide child poverty strategy in almost a decade, backed by investment and a commitment to tackling the root causes of hardship, feels like a huge step forward. These measures will make a transformational difference to children’s lives and provide a platform for even more ambitious action.”

Rhiannon Bearne, deputy chief executive at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said:

“The Chancellor is right to scrap the two-child benefit cap. Our members have long argued that this is one of the most powerful levers available to tackle the unacceptable rates of child poverty across our region and to support more parents into sustained and meaningful employment.”

Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said:

“Child poverty is an issue that blights far too many lives. Government and civil society must work together to prevent children from facing the life-long consequences such hardship brings. The decision to scrap the two-child limit, in particular, is a big step forward that will make a huge and immediate difference to thousands of families.”