Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the potential effect of the extension of the benefit cap to £23,000 per year in London and £20,000 per year outside London on the number of (a) people and (b) children living in households in (i) relative poverty and (ii) absolute poverty.

There is no current estimate available. Previous estimates used an out-of-date methodology and do not reflect the latest estimate of households affected by the lower cap.

We know that work is the best route out of poverty. 74% of poor children in workless families that moved into full employment exited poverty. We have made real progress - the number of children living in workless households is at a record low, down by more than 80,000 in the past year and well over half-a-million since 2010.

The existing benefit cap, at £26,000, has been shown to be successful with more households looking for, and finding work. The new, lower, tiered cap aims to build on this success by strengthening the work incentive for households.

Local authorities can make discretionary housing payments to help vulnerable people adjust to the changes.