Disability Benefits now included in Welfare Cap?

P4ula

Just seen this on another website, and checked the budget document and it is lurking in there:

Annex B to the Budget Document (Entitled Welfare Cap - Page 104),

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...Accessible.pdf


B.1 The level of the welfare cap for this Parliament is set out in Table 1.7.

B.2 Table B.1 sets out a full list of expenditure items within the scope of the welfare cap.


The Treasury will seek the approval of the House of Commons for any changes to the list of items of expenditure which fall within the scope of the welfare cap, including where a new welfare cap level and / or margin are being set

Table B.1: Benefits and tax credits in scope of the welfare cap

In scope

Attendance Allowance
Bereavement benefits
Carer’s Allowance
Child Benefit1
Christmas Bonus
Disability Living Allowance
Employment and Support Allowance
Financial Assistance Scheme
Housing Benefit (except HB passported from JSA)
Incapacity Benefit
Income Support
Industrial Injuries Benefits
In Work Credit
Maternity Allowance
Pension Credit
Personal Independence Payment
Personal Tax Credits
Return to Work Credit
Severe Disablement Allowance
Social Fund – Cold Weather Payments
Statutory Adoption Pay
Statutory Maternity Pay
Statutory Paternity Pay
Tax Free Childcare
Universal Credit (except payments to jobseekers)
Winter Fuel Payments


Not in scope

Benefits paid from DEL(2)
Jobseeker’s Allowance and its passported Housing Benefit
State Pension (basic and additional)
Transfers within government (e.g. over 75s TV licences)
Universal Credit payments to claimants subject to full conditionality and on zero income

1 Includes Guardian’s Allowance.
2 These payments are subject to firm spending control through the usual DEL process

---

Previously DLA, A, IIDB etc were not included within the Cap.

Nowhere in the Budget document does it say anyone receiving the aforementioned disability benefits is excluded from the cap (and why include them in the list above if the recipients were to be excluded?).

Perhaps it will all become apparaent when the government launch the [FONT=&quot]Welfare Reform and Work Bill that the Chanello[FONT=&quot]r[/FONT] announced would be launched today.

Paula



[FONT=&quot]Edir t[FONT=&quot]o[/FONT] add - the Previous list of included benefits is here:

[/FONT][/FONT]The benefit cap does not affect anyone on ESA SG it never has done.

Taken of the www.gov.co.uk site

The benefit cap limits the amount of benefit that most people aged 16 to 64 can get. Some individual benefits aren’t affected, but it may affect the total amount of benefit you get. The cap won’t affect you if you’re in the support group.


Benefits that are affected
The cap applies to the total amount that the people in your household get from the following benefits:

Bereavement Allowance
Carer’s Allowance
Child Benefit
Child Tax Credit
Employment and Support Allowance (unless you get the support component)
Guardian’s Allowance
Housing Benefit
Incapacity Benefit
Income Support
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Maternity Allowance
Severe Disablement Allowance
Widowed Parent’s Allowance (or Widowed Mother’s Allowance or Widows Pension you started getting before 9 April 2001)

LostandAfraid

Just read about this on another forum where someone explained it.

That is the 'welfare' cap which is the limit that the government want to spend on welfare in total.

The household benefit cap is different,it is what is allowed for each household and according to the BBC and Shelter a household is still exempt if PIP,DLA or support group ESA is in place which includes DLA that is paid for a dependent child.

scottay2hottay

So just to clarify. If you are receiving DLA or ESA support group, will you be exempt from the new £20,000 benefit cap? And when the new universal credit system comes into effect, will the same rules apply?

System

scottay2hottay wrote: »

So just to clarify. If you are receiving DLA or ESA support group, will you be exempt from the new £20,000 benefit cap? And when the new universal credit system comes into effect, will the same rules apply?

You will not be exempt but those benefits will not count toward the cap

LostandAfraid

scottay2hottay wrote: »

So just to clarify. If you are receiving DLA or ESA support group, will you be exempt from the new £20,000 benefit cap? And when the new universal credit system comes into effect, will the same rules apply?

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/housing_benefit_and_local_housing_allowance/changes_to_housing_benefit/benefit_cap

Sorry if the link doesn't work,am hopless with links but that is from Shelter,they have updated their page to mention the lower cap and state a list of exemptions from the cap too.

• More

• Shelter England
• Get advice
• Housing benefit
• Housing benefit reform
• What is the benefit cap?

What is the benefit cap?

The benefit cap sets a limit on the total amount in benefits that most working-age people can claim.

How much is the cap?

The total amount you can currently claim in benefits is:

• £500 per week for single parents and couples with children
• £350 per week for single people

The cap applies to the benefits you get as a household. This means that benefits received by you, your partner and dependent children who live with you, are all included.
Your housing benefit or universal credit will be reduced to ensure that you don't get more than the benefit cap limit.
Changes to the benefit cap

On July 8 2015 the government announced further reductions to the benefit cap. The total amount a household will be able to claim in benefits is:

• £442 a week in London
• £385 a week outside London

The date these changes take effect has yet to be announced.
Are you affected by the benefit cap?

Families who receive working tax credits or who work enough hours to claim tax credits are exempt.
Use the Gov.uk tax credit calculator to find out if you're eligible.
If you have been employed continuously for 12 months, and you lose your job through no fault of your own, the benefit cap won't apply to you for the first 39 weeks of your claim.
You are also exempt if you or your family receive:

• disability living allowance or the personal independence payment
• attendance allowance
• support component of employment and support allowance
• industrial injuries benefits

The cap doesn't apply if you are of pension age, or you receive war widows' or war widowers' pension.
If you claim universal credit, you won't be affected if you have an in-work exemption.

kaya

In short Dla , pip and income support/esa are not means tested unlike all the other benefits

rogerblack

kaya wrote: »

In short Dla , pip and income support/esa are not means tested unlike all the other benefits

Err - no.
IS is always means-tested.
ESA can be means-tested if it's income-based ESA.
DLA, PIP are not means-tested.

ESA (all sorts) and IS are included in the benefit cap (if it applies).
It does not apply to those on DLA or PIP.

melbury

rogerblack wrote: »

Err - no.
IS is always means-tested.
ESA can be means-tested if it's income-based ESA.
DLA, PIP are not means-tested.

ESA (all sorts) and IS are included in the benefit cap (if it applies).
It does not apply to those on DLA or PIP.

Am I correct in thinking that the government didn't mention anything about means testing contribution based ESA in the budget?

faerielight

housing benefit is included in this cap isn't it? .. if it is, it's truly scary as my rent is about to go up and I'm at the benefit cap limit so I've no idea how I will afford the rent . This is an awful trap for vulnerable people. There will be a lot of evictions due to rent arrears and you can't get a council place with arrears so there are going to be a hell of a lot more homeless people on the streets

rogerblack

melbury wrote: »

Am I correct in thinking that the government didn't mention anything about means testing contribution based ESA in the budget?

CB ESA is not as it is means-tested.
But it is income with regards to the benefit cap.
It makes little difference if your CB ESA remains the same while the amount of your benefit is reduced due to it, or of your CB ESA is cut.

As to the question of the other poster - yes - HB is included - that's most of the problem.

Without HB, very few will hit the benefit cap - 2 parents with 4 children in principle.
With HB, even one parent two child single families are capped across much of England.
The above 2 parent 4 child family - even if those 4 children were a result of the second pregnancy being triplets, or two families merging after the death of a partner - will have _no_ help with their housing costs in most circumstances unless one of them becomes disabled.

faerielight

including HB is cruel, as rents are so high in this country