THURROCK MP Jackie Doyle-Price rose on the floor of the House to ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to phase the introduction of the benefit cap.
Iain Duncan Smith (Secretary of State, Work and Pensions; Chingford and Woodford Green, Conservative)
“The benefit cap will be implemented from 15 April 2013 in Bromley, Croydon, Enfield and Haringey local authority areas. This will be a phased roll-out, with the remaining local authorities implementing the cap by the summer. This is in keeping with the way that the culture has changed in DWP. All the programmes that we are implementing are being rolled out on a staged basis. That includes changes to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission, universal credit, personal independence payment and universal job match.
Jackie Doyle-Price (Thurrock, Conservative)
Can my right hon. Friend give me some reassurance that vulnerable people will not be affected by the cap? Can he also assure me that every effort is being made to support people back into work?
Iain Duncan Smith (Secretary of State, Work and Pensions; Chingford and Woodford Green, Conservative)
Clearly, the cap and the principles behind the cap are supported by Government Members—that is, that people who are on benefits should not be earning more than those, for example, on average earnings.
Those who are exempted are those who are entitled to working tax credit—because this is about getting people back to work, not stopping them doing that—war widows, widowers, those in receipt of disability living allowance/personal independence payment, attendance allowance, industrial injuries benefits, those on war disablement pension and compensation scheme and the support component of employment support allowance.
There is also a 39-week grace period for those who fall unemployed so that they can get back to work without having to change their arrangements.
