John Swinney has denied claims the Scottish Government has delayed plans to mitigate the two-child cap on benefits by failing to ask for the right data.
The First Minister yesterday insisted payments to families would begin as soon as preparatory work was completed.
And the SNP leader rejected claims by Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary, that Holyrood had so far failed to request the appropriate data from the DWP.
Swinney told reporters today that Scottish Government officials had contacted their UK counterparts last month to begin work on the policy.
The two-child cap was introduced by the then Tory Government at Westminster in 2017 to stop parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for more than two children.
Labour has so far failed to scrap the policy across the UK despite it being repeatedly criticised by anti-poverty campaigners.
Swinney last month held private talks with Keir Starmer over the SNP’s plan to mitigate the policy in Scotland.
The First Minister has suggested the assistance of the DWP was the key to how quickly the plan can be delivered.
But Murray today claimed the Scottish Government was not “quite sure what they’re asking for” from the department.
He said: “The DWP has given a commitment to the Scottish Government that whatever policy comes forward, not only will they supply the data, they are willing to help develop the policy and make sure it interacts properly with the UK welfare system.
He added: “We are willing to give and do anything we possibly can to assist the Scottish Government.
“They need to develop the policy a bit further so they know what they need and know what they’re asking for so it can be supplied.”
Swinney, who was in Stirling to make a speech about the government’s ambitions to eradicate child poverty, said his ministers had already asked for the data last month.
He said: “We look forward to working with the UK Government in honouring the commitment the prime minister gave on December 6 that the UK government would work with us to lift the two-child cap.”
Swinney also made a guarantee his government would make the first mitigation payments this year “if we’re able to safely get the systems up and running” in time.
He added that if Starmer does the “right thing” and abolishes the cap across the UK, the funds committed to the Scottish mitigation policy would still be used on efforts to tackle child poverty.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, clickhere