benefit cap

A group of mothers has lost its claim that the benefit cap breaches their human rights.

The women, all from London, had brought the case on the grounds that it harms their right to a reasonable home and family life and breaches the rights of their children.

They had feared it would leave them destitute, with their lawyers arguing that it was a "cruel and arbitrary" measure and "reminiscent of the days of the workhouse".

The government has confirmed that the benefit cap affected 8,400 households between April and August, the period in which it was introduced.

The cap limits single people to a maximum of £350 per week, and couples and families to a maximum of £500 per week.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) today released official figures for the number having benefits capped in the first phase, which does not include the whole country.

The government's benefits cap has come in for more criticism in today's Guardian newspaper.

Anne Perkins says the policy "will almost certainly be devastating to some families and grotesquely unfair to many", and will lead to some areas of cities and many parts of the south of England being off-limits to all but the richest people.

The government's benefit cap is to be rolled out across the UK from today.

The cap, which sees working age claimants restricted to a maximum of £350 per week if they are single and £500 per week for those with families, has been piloted in four London boroughs from April and will be implemented in every other area of the UK between now and the end of September.

While disability benefits, pensions and in-work benefits are excluded from the cap, in practice the fact that the only payment made to claimants which is variable pays for housing means it is a housing benefit cap.