Social Security Benefits
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the operation of the household benefit cap relies on manual administration; and how many people in his Department work on its administration.
Answered by Sir Stephen Timms
The benefit cap is calculated automatically as part of the UC calculation on the UC administrative system and no manual processing is involved. A small number of households (340, as of August 2025) are capped via Housing Benefit (HB). The calculations relating to these capping decisions are completed by 1.6 FTE staff in post (SIP) within the department.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →