Brighton & Hove City Council leader Jason Kitcat on changes to benefits

About 300 families in Brighton & Hove are at risk of becoming homeless as a result of the government’s plan to cap benefits. The amount these households will receive will drop significantly, regardless of how many children live in the household or if someone in the family works part-time.

The idea, we’re told, was to encourage people into full-time work, save public money and make benefits ‘fairer’. But on average across the country there are three unemployed people chasing every job, and it’s even more competitive in our city. The Government’s own flagship scheme to help people find work has only helped one in 30 people land a permanent job.

And austerity cuts mean ordinary people have less money to spend and the economy is stalling. There just aren’t enough jobs to go around, but the government wants to penalise poorer families who want to work for not being able to find it.
There will be always be a debate about the welfare system. However the Government’s determination to slash benefits to meet targets, rather than on the basis of need, means families will be left unable to pay their rent or find anywhere cheaper to live in the city.

Local taxpayers in the city will fork out about £1.1m to help re-house the families that will be turfed out of their homes. The benefit cap makes no financial sense. Whatever savings the government may make will be dwarfed by the costs to local services and charities to deal with the consequences.

As with so many government plans, the benefit cap grabs headlines but will run up a bigger bill in the long-run. It will hurt scores of families at a time of increased joblessness and rising living costs, so we’re doing all we can to help those affected while lobbying the government to change their minds.