Housing Benefit Cuts 'Will Save 160,000 Jobs'

Cuts in housing benefit have saved 160,000 public sector jobs, the chancellor has claimed. In his autumn statement to Parliament on the economy, George Osborne said the Office of Budget Responsibility had revised its forecast for the number of jobs that would be lost in the public sector because of ‘difficult choices’ on housing benefit. The OBR has lowered its estimate from 490,000 to 330,000. Mr Osborne said: ‘The bulk of this revision results from the action we have taken to cut welfare bills rather than cut public services. ‘Our difficult choices on housing benefit and other benefits mean that fewer posts will be lost across the public sector.’ Read more on Inside Housing.