The UK benefit cap may soon increase as inflation continues to soar.
As reported by The Mirror, the benefit cap for each household was set at £20,000 in 2016, and has not gone up since then. The benefit cap is a limit on the total amount of benefit you can receive, and applies to most people aged 16 or over who have not reached State Pension age.
Around 120,000 households across the UK are currently affected by the benefit cap, with a further 35,000 predicted to join them in 2022 amid the worsening cost of living crisis.
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Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey confirmed on Wednesday that the UK Government is looking into reviewing the cap at some point between now and April 2023. She stated that she wanted to make sure that the cap gave a “real reflection of life” as inflation rises 10 per cent.
Coffey also indicated that the cap was originally intended to be reviewed during each term of Parliament, but this was impacted by the 2017 and 2019 general elections. Speaking to the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, she said: "I’m just getting a bit of advice on that.”
The Work and Pensions Secretary was challenged over the choice to freeze Local Housing Allowance. These are what is used to calculate housing benefit for tenants renting from private landlords.
She was accused by Labour MP Neil Coyle of pressuring people to move to cheaper areas after she stated that people’s circumstances are so different around the country on what is possible for them to earn, or their costs”.
In response, Coffey said: “That’s not what I said. What I said is there have been movements on rents over the last couple of years - some places have gone up, some places have gone down.”
She added: “It’s not my role to advise people where they should live.”
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