28 October 2014

David Cameron has proposed a new benefit cap of £23,000 per year, meaning thousands of families will have their benefits cut by up to £60 a week.

Also planned is the complete scrapping of housing benefits for 18-21 year olds. He has claimed that the £300m saved through the welfare cut will be used to create apprenticeships.

He said “Because of difficult decisions we will make on welfare, we will deliver three million apprenticeships by 2020. This is a crucial part of our long-term economic plan to secure a better future for Britain”. While Cameron purports that this move will help combat youth unemployment, it is clear that young people need support to find work, not punishment.


The news comes as a mother of five has been made homeless by the benefit cap, which is already low at £26,000. The cap ensures that no family can receive more than £500 in one week, including all housing costs. Titina Nzolamesa and her family were forced to leave their Westminster flat after the benefit cap was introduced, and their housing benefit no longer covered their rent. Of those affected by the benefits cap, 49% are in London, due to high housing costs.



Ms Nzolamesa was offered a property in Milton Keynes, and when she rejected the move, which would see her life and support network completely disrupted, the council told her it no longer had a duty to house her. Her children have been placed into foster care. The case has been turned down by the Court of Appeal, but her lawyers have said they intend to take the case to the Supreme Court.

Her solicitor, Jayesh Kunwardia, said: “This judgment could have dire consequences for vulnerable families across the country. It gives the green light for councils to engage in social cleansing of the poor on a mass scale. Council tenants are being threatened with homelessness unless they agree to uproot themselves from communities they’ve lived in for years”.