Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many and what proportion of those affected by the benefit cap since its introduction are in receipt of (1) Employment Support Allowance, (2) Income Support, and (3) Carer’s Allowance.

The latest official statistics on the benefit cap can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-august-2014

These statistics do not contain benefit type information. A suite of evaluation was published on 15 December 2014. This evaluation made estimates of the proportion of capped households in scope for the cap who were in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support (IS), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) or other benefit types over time. The evaluation uses a different methodology to the Official Statistics and does not provide a cumulative count of numbers which is in line with Official Statistics. In July 2014 (the most recent data used in the evaluation), estimates found 23 per cent of capped claimants were in receipt of ESA; 45 per cent of capped claimants were in receipt of IS; and 9 per cent were in receipt of another benefit type, of which modelling suggests around 1,400 households had at least one Carer’s Allowance claimant.

Further information can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-cap-evaluation

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-cap-review-of-the-first-year