14 September 2015
Benefit cap set to devastate St Helens
Around 12,500 families in St Helens are likely to be worse off from next April next when the government's new weekly total benefit cap of £384 per household takes effect.
Besides decimating the household finances of many local families, the policy is also a financial time bomb for St Helens Council which has a duty to accommodate homeless families.
Dave Parr, work and welfare spokesman for St Helens Green Party, says:
“£384 may sound like plenty of money to some, but just take the example of a couple with three children who currently receive £333 a week, plus housing benefit to cover the rent.
“In St Helens, weekly rents average about £85 for social housing and over £100 in the private sector. Under the new system however, the amount of housing benefit they can receive will be capped at £50 per week – leaving a shortfall of up to £200 per month.
“This might be small change for Cameron and Osborne’s billionaire buddies, but for a family trying to scrape by on benefits it can mean the difference between staying in their home or being forced out onto the streets; the difference between having enough to eat and going hungry. It is also money that disappears from the local economy.
“And it could also lead to higher council tax bills for all of us.
“Yet in England only the Green Party opposes this damaging austerity agenda. We might expect the Labour Party to fight it with all its might but most Labour MPs, including St Helens North MP Conor McGinn, chose the path of political expediency and abstained from the final vote on the issue.
“It’s time we worked together for a more just society for all.”
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