UK: The Poor to Suffer

Early warnings for 90,000 people facing benefits cap

Tens of thousands of families living on benefits are to be warned in the coming days that they face losing their homes as the Government begins the process of capping payouts.

The Telegraph,

5 May, 2012

An estimated 90,000 people will receive letters from today warning them that they are likely to have their benefits cut under Government plans to overhaul welfare.

From next year, couples or single parents in England who receive more than £500 a week in total from the state through different benefit will have their payments cut.

The Government insists that the reforms, spearheaded by the Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan-Smith are essential to make work worthwhile and stop people claiming housing benefit on expensive homes.

The cap of £26,000 a year is the equivalent of earning £35,000 before tax for those in work.

But the plans faced bitter opposition, led by Church of England Bishops in the House of Lords, who warned that children in poor households would suffer.

They argued that refusing to exclude housing benefit from the list of payouts affected would make it almost impossible for the unemployed to live in many parts of London and other areas where rents are soaring.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, warned that the reform would to “Kosovo-style social cleansing” in parts of the capital – remarks which earned him an unprecedented slap-down from David Cameron.

The Department for Work and Pensions said the letters were the first step in a process which would “bring fairness back into the benefits system”.

The letters, being sent to a total of 67,000 households, will warn people that they might be affected by the cap, what it might mean and give details of a helpline.

A spokesman said the early warnings meant people who would have to move to a less expensive house would have a year to make other arrangements.

But it is feared the shake-up will force thousands of families to move to less expensive areas of the country putting pressure on resources there.

The National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations, said the cap would have “brutal effects”.

David Orr, its chief executive, said: “The letters will come as a shock to many vulnerable families.

“The overall benefit cap is a crude measure that fails to reflect the stark differences in housing costs across the country, caused by the desperate shortage of affordable housing.”

The organisation is calling on local councils, which have been given lists of families likely to be affected to share the details with housing associations to help them plan for the possible upheaval.

Anyone receiving more than the capped amount through housing benefit, child benefit, jobseekers allowance, carer’s allowance and other payouts will be affected.

But it will not apply to war widows, disabled people or anyone in work but receiving some benefits.

A DWP spokesman said: "It's not fair that people are able to claim as much on benefits as the average household earns.

"Instead the Welfare State should work as a safety net and then support people to financial independence.

“We have promised to work intensively with people ahead of the benefits cap to prepare them and the letters sent this week are the first step.

"We expect people to use this support to help them make the right decisions ahead of the benefit cap coming into force in April 2013.”