Ministers facing fresh calls to drop benefit cap appeal

New data shows 16,960 single parents with young children have been subject to the cap since its introduction in 2013 – around a quarter of all those affected by the measure.

The High Courts ruled in June that the application of the threshold to lone parents with children under two was illegal, adding that it caused “real misery to no good purpose”.

But ministers continue to defend the cap, and the Government has indicated that it will appeal against the High Court’s decision,

The Department for Work and Pension (DWP) figures also reveal that an additional 51,000 people have seen their welfare payments reduced as a result of the lower cap imposed in November last year.

This lowered the threshold from £26,000 per year for couples and single parents, to £23,000 in London and £20,000 in other parts of the country.

Commenting on the data, Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke said the policy has been effective in helping people find work, with 34,000 households who would previously have been subject to the cap having returned to work since it was introduced.

“It is right that people who are out of work are faced with the same choices as those who are in work and these figures show that the benefit cap has been a real success,” Mr Gauke said.

“But behind these figures are thousands of people who are now better off in work and enjoying the benefits of a regular wage.

“With record levels of employment and over three quarters of a million vacancies at any one time, even more people have the opportunity to change their lives for the better.”

A total of 10,011 welfare claimants in the Yorkshire and Humber area have been subject to the cap since its introduction, with 4,350 seeing a reduction in income as a result of the new thresholds.

The same data shows that 6,072 single parents in the region have seen their welfare payments capped – but it is unclear how many of these would be affected by the High Court ruling.

Labour has called for a rethink of the policy, arguing that the “decision to cut families’ incomes does not amount to supporting them into work”.

Shadow work and pensions minister Margaret Greenwood said: “It is time that we urgently reviewed the benefit cap’s impact and effectiveness.

“Rather than penalising children for its failed austerity plans, the Government should instead undertake the task of supporting people into work, tackling the high cost of housing, improving pay and investing in childcare.”

Keighley MP John Grogan added: “The Courts are there to protect the rights of the vulnerable when Government’s introduce policies which ignore the day to day realities of ordinary people’s lives and I think Ministers should accept their decision in this case.

“A decent welfare system should provide incentives for people to get back into work but it also needs to protect the vulnerable. All of us however fortunate in our lives are only two or three slices of bad luck away, such as ill health or losing a job or a partner, from needing a safety net.”

Dalia Ben-Galim, director of policy at charity Gingerbread, said it was “not too late for the Government to withdraw its appeal”.