Hundreds of Brum homes have benefit cut to 50p a week

ALMOST 3,000 families in Birmingham have had their housing benefit cut to as little as 50p a week as a result of the Government’s benefits cap.

New figures reveal that the city is the worst hit in Britain by the welfare reform, with both the highest number of households affected, and the largest number of people who have seen payments cut to the basement 50p figure.

Official figures obtained by BBC1’s Panorama show that at least 67,600 households have lost benefits in England, Scotland and Wales following the introduction of the cap in November 2016.

And more than one in ten – 7,585 families – had their housing benefit cut to just 50p a week.

Of the 370 councils which responded to Panorama’s survey, the highest numbers of households affected by the benefit cap were in Birmingham (2,968), Brent (1,239), Ealing (1,056) , Enfield (1,027), Hackney (1,014) and Leeds (993).

Birmingham also tops areas with the highest numbers of claimants whose housing benefit payments have been reduced to 50p a week: Birmingham (578), Leeds (223), Manchester (179), Sandwell (169) and Sheffield (151).

The Child Poverty Action Group says that the £20,000 cap – up to £23,000 in London – on the total amount of benefits claimed by a household in a year is “completely arbitrary” and targets many people who were not in a position to work.

Chief executive Alison Garnham said: “The benefit cap has been set at a level that bears no relation to anything else. It’s completely arbitrary.

“We reckon, of the people affected by the benefit cap, about 80 per cent of them are not really in a category expected to work because they’re sick or have very young children.”

Ministers insist that it leaves claimants on a similar income to many working people, and gives them an additional incentive to find a job.