Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency have had income support capped since the introduction of the benefit cap.

The number of households subject to the benefit cap by Parliamentary Constituency is published on gov.uk each quarter. The latest data, showing the total number of households capped from 15 April 2013, when the benefit cap was introduced, to August 2014, can be found in Table 1 of the data tables published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-august-2014

The benefit cap applies to the combined income from a number of benefits, including Income Support.

• the main out-of-work benefits (Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, and Employment and Support Allowance except when the Support Component is in payment);

• Housing Benefit;

• Child Benefit;

• Child Tax Credit;

• other benefits such as Carer’s Allowance.

The cap is currently administered through Housing Benefit. This means that, if affected, it is only a household’s Housing Benefit entitlement that is reduced so that the total amount of benefit received is no longer higher than the cap level.