Written question asked by Clive Betts (Labour) on Thursday, 2 February 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 9 February 2012. It was answered by Lord Grayling (Conservative) on Thursday, 9 February 2012 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Housing Benefit

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) individuals and (b) households in Sheffield will have a reduction in their benefits as a result of the implementation of his proposed benefit cap.

Answer: We estimate that in Sheffield around 300 households may be affected by the cap and that these households contain around 400 adults and 1300 children.On 23 January 2012 the Department published an updated impact assessment for the household benefit cap, which estimated that in Great Britain 67,000 households would be affected by the cap in the first year of its implementation (the financial year 2013-14). Following the concessions won in the House of Commons on 1 February, these figures are of course subject to change ahead of the Welfare Reform Bill gaining Royal Assent.The impact assessment assumes that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. In fact, in all cases the Department is working to support households through this transition, using existing provision through Jobcentre Plus and the Work programme to move as many into work as possible.

Secondary information