Thousands of Londoners who face being hit by the £26,000-a-year cap on benefits are moving into work, ministers claimed today.
The new limit on overall benefits has come into force in four London boroughs — Bromley, Enfield, Croydon and Haringey — and will be rolled out across the country during the summer.
The Government initially estimated 28,000 households in London would be affected by the cap of £500 a week for couples, with or without children, and lone parents, or £350 for single people — but its latest forecast is 21,000.
The Department for Work and Pensions believes the cap is already having an effect. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: “It’s a strong incentive for people to move into work and even before the cap comes in we are seeing thousands of Londoners seeking help and moving off benefits.”
Ministers played down claims that the policy could lead to families splitting up to keep their benefits, as the cap is per household.
But economists have challenged the Government’s claim over people finding work and Labour MPs accused it of “turfing” single mothers and other vulnerable people out of their homes.
David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, called for controls to protect families from rising rents and more council house-building. He said those affected by the cap included women working less than 16 hours a week in jobs such as serving school meals or cleaning.
Haringey council said about 100 households out of 1,000 expected to lose out because of the cap would no longer do so because someone had found work, but an equal number of new cases had come forward.
Croydon expects under 800 households to be affected, with 42 people having found work and so avoiding loss of benefits.
