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Scotland

Shelter Scotland response to the Work and Pensions Committee inquiry on the benefit cap

By: Shelter Scotland
Published: September 2018

Shelter Scotland evidence for the Work and Pensions Committee inquiry on the benefit cap

This is Shelter Scotland's written evidence submitted to the Work and Pensions Committee inquiry on the benefit cap.

Key points:

Between November 2016, when the lower benefit cap was imposed, and May 2018, our research shows more than 80 households approached us for help who have been subject to the benefit cap.

Our experience is that the benefit cap is a punitive, gendered, arbitrary cap.
It has a disproportionate effect on single parents and affects many families who are in low-paid work and already struggling to make ends meet, as well as those who are unable to work.

The benefit cap has caused severe hardship for families, stress and anxiety over the financial strain, and has pushed many into arrears, eviction and homelessness. For some, it has actually pushed them further away from work than they previously were.

We believe the benefit cap does not meet its intended aims and causes undue hardship, and that the public and personal cost of homelessness caused by the benefit cap outweighs any direct monetary gains it may make. Local authorities are left to cover the cost of supporting people who are made homeless and many who are unable to afford the charges for their temporary accommodation, notwithstanding the cost of discretionary housing payments used to mitigate the worst effects of the cap.

We need a strong housing safety net to ensure help is in place when people need it. The lower benefit cap does not deliver this safety net and actually leaves a gaping hole in the welfare system, despite affecting people who have already been deemed eligible for support through the social security system.

Shelter Scotland strongly recommends removing the benefit cap.