Key Points

In Northern Ireland at November 2022:

  • 1,030 households had their benefits capped. This is a decrease of 15% from 1,210 at November 2021.
  • 750 households had their Universal Credit award capped, and 280 households had their Housing Benefit award capped. These represent 0.6% of UC households and 0.4% of working-age HB households respectively.
  • The average amount capped was £49 per week.
  • 1,520 individuals had their Benefit Cap reduction mitigated via an Administrative Welfare Supplementary payment (WSP). Of these, 1,220 (80%) were UC Benefit Cap administrative WSPs.

Introduction

The Benefit Cap was introduced in Northern Ireland on 31st May 2016, and is a limit on the total amount of benefit that working age people can receive*. The Benefit Cap can be applied through Housing Benefit (HB) and Universal Credit (UC). More information on Universal Credit in Northern Ireland is available on the Northern Ireland Universal Credit statistics website.

This publication contains experimental statistics on the number of capped households in Northern Ireland since the introduction of the Benefit Cap. It provides a range of household breakdowns including the amount capped, number of children, family type and geographical area.

The publication also contains statistics on the number of individuals receiving a Benefit Cap Administrative Welfare Supplementary Payment.

Data accompanying this publication

Supplementary tables (Open Document Spreadsheet) accompanying this publication are available on the Northern Ireland Benefit Cap statistics website.

Publication charts

Capped Households

When the Benefit Cap was first introduced in Northern Ireland on 31 May 2016, the amount a household could receive in benefit income was limited to £26,000 per annum for couples and households with children, and £18,200 per annum for single people without children. On 7 November 2016, this threshold was lowered to £20,000 per annum and £13,400 per annum respectively.

Universal Credit was rolled out in Northern Ireland by December 2018, replacing six legacy benefits including Housing Benefit, and from then there has been a steady increase in the number of households capped under UC with a subsequent decline in the number of households capped under HB. June 2020 was the first month the number of capped households under UC outnumbered the number of capped households under HB.

The number of capped households rose between November 2016 and April 2017. After this time, there was a general decline in the number of capped households, which continued until February 2020. From March 2020 the number of capped households increased notably in parallel with the overall increase in the UC caseload due to the COVID-19 pandemic before dropping from August 2021.

The number of capped households has continued to decline since August 2021, and 1,030 households had their benefits capped at November 2022, a decrease of 15% from 1,210 at November 2021.

Figure 1: Households on the Benefit Cap at November 2022

Of the 1,030 households capped at November 2022, 750 were UC capped households and and 280 were HB capped households.

Figure 2: Households capped via Universal Credit or Housing Benefit at November 2022

Family Composition

Child Benefit and Child Tax Credits are both included in the Benefit Cap, so families with more children, in receipt of higher amounts of these benefits are more likely to be capped.

At November 2022, 840 (81%) of the total capped households were single parent households, whilst 190 (19%) were couples with children.

Figure 3: Family composition of capped households at November 2022

Figure 3 is based on the totals of capped households who are Single Parent, Couples with children and Single without children at November 2022. Figures for Single without children are typically small and may therefore not be visible, but can be viewed in the corresponding download tables and Supplementary Table 5.

At November 2022, 930 (91%) of capped households had 3 or more children.

Figure 4: Capped households by number of children at November 2022

Geography

The largest number of capped households are found in the Belfast Local Government District, with 270 households at November 2022, representing 26% of capped households at that time.

There were 20 households with no LGD information at November 2022. These are not shown on Figure 5.

Figure 5: Capped households by Local Government District at November 2022

Figure 5 is based on the totals of those capped through both HB and UC. Breakdowns for months prior to November 2022 at LGD and Assembly Area (AA) levels are available in Supplementary Table 6.

Average Weekly Cap amount

Unlike legacy benefits, UC is assessed and paid monthly and it is calculated based on household circumstances. The Benefit Cap is applied to the full UC award and not only to housing costs. For these statistics, a weekly cap equivalent has been calculated for UC households.

The average weekly impact of the Benefit Cap in Northern Ireland during November 2022 was a reduction of £49 per week. 680 (66%) of all capped households at November 2022 were capped by £50 or less per week. 140 (13%) of all capped households at November 2022 were capped by more than £100 per week.

Figure 6: Capped households by weekly cap amount at November 2022

Mitigation of the Benefit Cap

As of February 2022, changes to the administrative Welfare Supplementary Payment mitigation scheme meant all families with children who have their benefit capped are eligible for an administrative Welfare Supplementary Payment (WSP) equivalent to the loss of benefit. There was a corresponding spike in the number of Benefit Cap WSP payments at March 2022 following this change.

In November 2022, 1,520 individuals received a Benefit Cap Administrative Welfare Supplementary Payment. Of these, 1,220 (80%) were UC Benefit Cap Administrative WSPs.

The difference between the number of households capped and the number of individuals receiving a Benefit Cap Administrative Welfare Supplementary Payment in a month is due to the nature of the administrative data. The Benefit Cap data is at household level, and the mitigation data is at an individual level, so they are not comparable. Furthermore, Administrative Welfare Supplementary Payments are paid every four weeks in arrears from the date of the first Benefit Cap deduction from UC, but UC is paid either once or twice a month (based on claimant choice).



Figure 7: Benefit Cap Welfare Supplementary Payments at November 2022

Notes

Rounding

Figures contained within this publication have been rounded to the nearest ten and the nearest whole percent unless otherwise stated. Percentages and totals shown are calculated using unrounded figures before rounding. Some totals therefore may not sum due to rounding.

Background Information

The Benefit Cap was introduced in Northern Ireland on 31st May 2016 with a £26,000 per annum threshold for couples and households with children, and £18,200 per annum for single people without children. In November 2016 these thresholds were lowered to £20,000 per annum, and £13,400 per annum respectively.

The Benefit Cap limits a working-age household’s benefit income to:

  • £384.62 a week for couples (with or without children living with them) and single parents whose children live with them;
  • £257.69 a week for single adults without children, or whose children do not live with them.

The cap applies to the combined income from benefits, including:

  • Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support and Employment and Support Allowance (except when the Support Component is in payment);
  • Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit;
  • Housing Benefit;
  • Universal Credit; and
  • Other benefits such as Incapacity Benefit and Bereavement support Payment.

These reductions ensure that a households total benefits no longer add up to more than the cap level.

Exemptions

There are a number of benefits which are exempt households from having their total amount of benefit limited in this way. You are not affected by the Benefit Cap if you or your partner are in work or in receipt of an exempt benefit. Exemptions from the cap include:

  • Carer’s Allowance;
  • Disability Living Allowance or its replacement Personal Independence Payment;
  • Employment and Support Allowance (Support Component);
  • Working Tax Credit;
  • Other benefits such as Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments; and
  • Exemptions such as DLA/PIP also apply if received by other members of the household.

Mitigation of the Benefit Cap

As agreed by the NI Executive the Department for Communities currently delivers Welfare Supplementary Payments to mitigate the effects of the Benefit Cap. The Assembly has recently approved an extension of these mitigation payments until 31 March 2025.

During the period covered by this report not all claimants that were impacted by the Benefit Cap were mitigated. There could be a number of reasons for this including:

  • Claimant was not in receipt of a qualifying benefit during the relevant period (from 6th November 2016 when the current Benefit Cap was introduced).
  • Claimant was previously in receipt of a Benefit Cap mitigation, but a change of circumstances moved them off the cap, and ended their mitigation payment. A further change of circumstances moved them back onto the Benefit Cap, but they are not mitigated as it is the second time that they have been capped.

From 10 February 2022, changes to the mitigation scheme means that in future all families with children who have their benefit capped will be eligible for a Welfare Supplementary Payment equivalent to the loss of benefit.

The difference between the number of households capped and the number of individuals receiving a Benefit Cap Administrative Welfare Supplementary Payment in a month is due to the nature of the administrative data. The Benefit Cap data is at household level, and the mitigations data is at an individual level, so they are not comparable. Furthermore, Administrative Welfare Supplementary Payments are paid every four weeks in arrears from the date of the first Benefit Cap deduction from UC, but UC is paid either once or twice a month (based on claimant choice).

Impact of the Coronavirus

There has been no change to the Benefit Cap policy in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contact Information

Data Quality and Methodology

The two main sources of Benefit Cap data published here are the NIHE Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) and the Universal Credit Full Service System (UCFS) which are used to get data on households capped through HB and UC respectively. The Benefit Cap had primarily been administered through a reduction in Housing Benefit (HB). However, administration of the Benefit Cap is now more common through a reduction of Universal Credit (UC) payments as numbers in the report will support.

Since the Universal Credit Full Service system (UCFS) is a live system, the UC figures and the combined HB and UC figures contained within the publication and supplementary tables are subject to scheduled revisions. This is to account for retrospective actions on the UCFS system. These revisions are performed in accordance with T3.9 of the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics.

Experimental statistics

These statistics are in an experimental stage and as such are subject to retrospective revision in any future releases.

The methodology for gathering these statistics is still in development and is also in the process of being quality assured. The methodology may change, leading to a revision of the figures contained within.

The August 2020 publication underwent a streamlining exercise as feedback suggested too much data was presented and this detracted from the key statistics. It now reports on one measure, Point-in-time caseload, which counts the number of capped households each month.