Families to Get Nine Months to Adapt to Benefit Cap

The work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, will give families affected by the government's £26,000 welfare cap at least nine months to adapt to the loss of benefits, thereby allowing them more time to find a job or move house before the limit is imposed. It has been suggested that as many as 200,000 people on housing benefits will have to move from areas of high rents as a result of the change, but the government says the actual figure is 67,000. That number, it is claimed, will be reduced if the cap is not imposed as soon as benefits are claimed, or when the claimant is forced into expensive temporary accommodation. A discretionary fund will also be available to local authorities to ease difficult cases, and ensure families are not forced to move during critical points in a child's schooling. Read more on the Guardian website.