Badenoch backs Benefit Cap changes to save £1bn a year
Kemi Badenoch said the Conservatives would tighten the benefit cap if they win power, changing who is automatically exempt and aiming to save at least £1bn a year. The plan would remove automatic exemption for some households, including some receiving Personal Independence Payment, and would require more work from couples and single adults who can work.
Badenoch said the plans would "stop those who abuse the system getting almost unlimited welfare payments". The Conservatives say the cap would only exempt households where all adults who can work do so, with couples required to work at least 16 hours a week each and a single adult who can work required to work 16 hours a week.
Kemi Badenoch and the cap
The household benefit cap limits the total amount of benefit payments most working age people can receive. Under current rules, some households are exempt, including some on Personal Independence Payment and some universal credit claimants earning £881 or more a month.
The Tory proposal would change that test. Receiving Personal Independence Payment would no longer automatically take a household out of the cap, and the party says work would become the deciding factor for exemption under its plan.
111,000 households in Great Britain
Latest government figures show 111,000 households in Great Britain are affected by the cap. The Conservatives say more than 2.3 million households were claiming benefits above the cap because of exemptions, including work.
For a couple living outside Greater London, the cap is £1,835 per month. The cap also applies in Northern Ireland, where supplementary payments are used to help reduce the effect on families with children.
2013 coalition rule
The household benefit cap was introduced in 2013 under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. It was designed to increase the incentive to work and reduce long-term dependence on benefits, while critics argue the limit can trap part-time, low-income or out-of-work families in poverty.
For people already relying on capped support, the proposed change would turn current exemptions into a work test. If the Conservatives set out more detail on the policy, the main issue will be how far households can meet the new hours requirement before any exemption disappears.
