Labour Wants Benefit Cap to Be Set Locally

Labour has called for the proposed total benefits cap to be set locally rather than at the national limit of £26,000. Liam Byrne, shadow work and pensions secretary, told the BBC that the cap on benefits for working age households would work better if it differed in different parts of the country. He said: ‘If you want to send a signal that you are better off in work than on benefits, wouldn’t it make much more sense to have localised caps in different parts of the country because we know there are different levels of housing benefit in different parts of the country?’ Mr Byrne said Labour backs the principle of having a cap despite the party’s peers voting last week to exclude child benefit from the cap. Read more on the BBC website.