Posted 15.07.13
The total household benefits cap has started to be rolled out across Great Britain and it will take 12 weeks to complete the process. The cap limits combined benefits, including Housing Benefit, to £26,000 a year.
Over the next six weeks it will be rolled out across 335 local authority areas which have an estimated 275 or fewer households affected. From 12 August it will then be applied to a further 40 local authority areas which have an estimated 276 or more households to be capped.
According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the cap will be phased in gradually, with councils 'sent low volumes for capping at the start of implementation - so as to ensure DWP levels of expertise are achieved at the required accuracy levels'.
The DWP confirmed that the cap will have been rolled out to all households by the end of September. New claims under Universal Credit will be capped from October.
The cap was piloted in four London boroughs - Croydon, Bromley, Haringey and Enfield. The Government's impact assessment concludes that the benefits cap will affect 56,000 households in 2013/14 and save £270 million a year.
