The Bishop of Durham received the following written answers on 19th June 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of children who would no longer be in poverty if the benefit cap were (1) abolished, and (2) returned to its original levels.
Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con): No assessment has been made.
The Government firmly believes where possible it is in the best interests of children to be in working households. We have a range of employment support and advice available from our Work Coaches in Jobcentres to help people to be better off and become less reliant on benefits.
DWP is committed to supporting families and helping parents to progress. This requires a system that provides strong work incentives and key support for those who need it, but crucially also ensures a sense of fairness to the taxpayer.
Meanwhile, we can highlight that both rates and numbers of children in absolute poverty (60% of 2010/11 median income, both before and after housing costs) were lower in 2021/22 than in 2009/10. In 2021/22 there were 400,000 fewer children in absolute low income after housing costs than in 2009/10.
The Lord Bishop of Durham asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of any disproportionate impact of the benefit cap on households headed by someone from an ethnic minority.
Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Secretary of State has complied with his duties under the Equality Act 2010 and had due regard to the equality impacts when completing the benefit cap review in November 2022.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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