Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make available funding to abolish the household benefit cap.

The Government firmly believes that there has to be a limit on working-age benefits the state should provide to households. It is not reasonable or fair for taxpayers to pay for people to live on out of work benefits at higher incomes than they themselves receive from work. Exemptions to the cap apply for those in work and the most vulnerable claimants. £180 million has been made available for Local Authorities in 2020/21 to use Discretionary Housing Payments to address shortfalls arising from the benefit cap where they deem this justified.

DWP Secretary of State has a statutory obligation to review the levels of the benefit cap at least once in each Parliament unless an early election is called, as in 2019. A review will take place at an appropriate point in the future.