Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Benefit Cap

Monday 28 June 2021 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Beth Winter asked about the benefit cap and its impact on food poverty, citing a study suggesting lifting the cap could reduce child poverty.
  • Winter also questioned the Minister about former Work and Pensions Minister Lord Freud's description of the benefit cap as "ghastly" and its effects during the covid period.
  • Karen Buck inquired about the fairness of the benefit cap and how families were expected to move into work or reduce housing costs despite the increased universal credit rates.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Beth Winter
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP raises concerns over households affected by the benefit cap, especially during a 'Right to Food' campaign day highlighting food poverty and its relation to capped benefits.

Question

Today is a day of action for the “Right to Food” campaign. I can offer the Minister one possible policy to alleviate food poverty: drop the benefit cap. The Child Poverty Action Group found that lifting the cap could take 150,000 children out of poverty. Will the Minister explain her reasoning for not lifting it?

Answer from Mims Davies

The hon. Lady will be keen to know that, even in these current times, people moving out of the benefit cap and into work is going in the right direction. The benefits system provides a crucial safety net for people at their time of need and the benefit cap also provides a strong incentive for claimants to get into work and increase their hours so that the benefit cap does not apply.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific request to lift the benefit cap was avoided.

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Q2 Beth Winter
Benefits & Welfare
Context

MP questions how families have been supposed to reduce housing costs or find work during the pandemic, given that neither option was effectively possible.

Question

Last week, former Work and Pensions Minister Lord Freud described the benefit cap as “ghastly”. Efforts to protect incomes during covid have been undermined as increased universal credit and housing allowance rates led to more families being capped. Will the Minister explain how families have been supposed to do that in the past 12 months?

Answer from Mims Davies

I remind hon. Members that the benefit cap is set at the equivalent annual salary of £24,000, or £28,000 in London, which importantly provides fairness between taxpayers in employment and those with working-age support. Claimants can approach their local authority for discretionary housing payments if they need additional support to meet rental costs, or indeed for hardship grants.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific question about the feasibility of reducing housing costs was avoided.

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Q3 Karen Buck Lab
Benefits & Welfare
Context

MP discusses the impact of the benefit cap on families' ability to move into work or reduce housing costs during the pandemic.

Question

Former Work and Pensions Minister Lord Freud described the benefit cap as “ghastly”. Efforts to protect incomes during covid have been undermined by more families being capped due to increased universal credit rates. Will the Minister explain how families were expected to move into work or reduce housing costs in the past 12 months when neither was effectively possible?

Answer from Mims Davies

I remind hon. Members that the benefit cap is set at the equivalent annual salary of £24,000, or £28,000 in London, providing fairness between taxpayers and those with working-age support. Claimants can approach their local authority for discretionary housing payments if they need additional support to meet rental costs. The forthcoming in-work progression report will look at all these matters.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific question about moving into work or reducing housing costs was not directly addressed.

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