Greg Hands MP has welcomed new official figures which show that more than 100 people affected by the benefit cap have moved into work every week, on average, since the introduction of the policy last April. New official statistics, which are the first to cover the initial year of the policy, show that almost 6,000 households, which were previously subject to the benefit cap, have found jobs overall.
In April 2013, the Conservative led Government introduced a benefits cap on the maximum amount of welfare payments a household could claim. The intent was to ensure that it was no longer possible to receive more in benefits than the average family earns, and therefore incentivise people to move off benefits, and into work. Families would still be able to claim welfare, but it would mean that they would no longer earn more than average working people by not working.
As a result of the policy, in total, more than 42,000 households had their benefits capped by March 2014. If there had been no cap, these households would continue to earn the equivalent of a pre-tax salary of more than £40,000.
In addition, almost 6,000 households which were previously subject to the benefit cap, now have a reduced benefit claim to below the weekly limit of the cap. This is as a result of finding jobs and being less reliant on benefits. For instance in Chelsea and Fulham alone, 395 people moved off Job-Seekers Allowance and into work last year. This has been made possible by the long term economic plan of the Conservatives, which is repairing the economy and creating new jobs.
Greg Hands said: “I am pleased that these figures show our benefits policy is working. It is cutting the overall welfare bill and saving the country money; it is fixing the unfair situation where people on benefits earned more than those who work; and most importantly it is incentivising people to go out and find jobs. It is making sure that it always pays to work, and that is right and good. Labour, however, voted against our benefit cap and think people on out-of-work benefits should be able to get the equivalent of a £40,000 salary.
“Capping benefits is a key part of the Government’s long-term economic plan, so our economy delivers for all those who want to work hard and play by the rules. The other side of the coin is creating new jobs; and that is why our economic reforms have backed small business and lowered employment taxes, meaning there are 1.7 million more private sector jobs and 400,000 more businesses than in 2010. The private sector has created four jobs for every one lost in the public sector over the past three years.”