Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's impact assessment of 25 August 2016 on the lower benefit cap, if he will publish the referred estimates of the operational costs of implementing that cap and of providing support to capped claimants.

The benefit cap was lowered on the 7th November from £26,000 to £20,000, except in London where it was lowered to £23,000 (a lower cap applies to single adult households).

To help ensure Local Authorities are able to protect the most vulnerable Housing Benefit claimants and to support households adjusting to our welfare reforms, the Government will provide over £800m funding for Discretionary Housing Payments over the next 5 years from 2016/17. Information about this and other measures to ease the transition for families affected by this policy change is included in the latest impact assessment at the link below.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/welfare-reform-and-work-act-impact-assessment-for-the-benefit-cap